Hamas returns two more bodies but says it cannot retrieve remaining dead hostages
Hamas said it had handed over the bodies of two more Israeli hostages under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement, but said it needed time and special equipment to rescue the rest of the dead from the rubble of Gaza.
The group’s armed wing said in a statement that it was committed to the agreement but returned the bodies of all the hostages it could reach.
US President Donald Trump said that Israeli forces could continue fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not comply with the agreement.
Israel, through the Red Cross, has received coffins containing the bodies of the hostages, who are currently awaiting official identification, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
“IDF calls on the public to act sensitively and wait for the official identification, which will first be communicated to the families of the deceased hostages,” the statement said. The statement was included.
Providing an update on the implementation of the 20-point peace plan, senior US advisers said the US government does not believe so far that Hamas has broken the agreement by not taking the remains of dead hostages.
Advisers argued that Hamas acted in good faith by returning the live hostages and was working with various interlocutors to find and return the hostages’ remains.
If the two bodies returned on Wednesday night are confirmed to be hostages, that would mean 19 bodies are still unfound in Gaza. Hamas must return all 28 dead hostages. First phase of the Gaza peace plan
However, Hamas’s armed wing said in a statement that “serious efforts and special equipment are required to search and recover the remaining bodies, and we are making great efforts to close this file.”
Israel had previously stated that it would “make no concessions” on the return of the hostages, saying that the “mission was not completed”.
Israel’s defense minister said he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare a “comprehensive plan” to defeat Hamas in Gaza in the event of a resumption of war.
After meeting with top generals on Wednesday, Israel Katz said the military should be ready to act if Hamas refuses to implement the peace plan.
The latest returns come after Israel said on Tuesday that one of the four bodies returned by Hamas was not one of the missing hostages.
The Hostage Families Forum said the other three dead were identified as Tamir Nimrodi, 20, Eitan Levy, 53, and Uriel Baruch, 35.
Earlier on Wednesday, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher Called on Israel to immediately open all crossings to Gaza For humanitarian assistance as stated in the ceasefire plan.
In a post on X, Fletcher said Hamas should “make concerted efforts to return all bodies of deceased hostages.”
He added: “They should allow the massive flow of humanitarian aid – thousands of trucks a week – on which so many lives depend and which the world so desperately awaits, as Israel has acknowledged.”
He called for “more crossings open and a genuine, practical, problem-solving approach to removing remaining obstacles” and said “withholding aid from civilians is not a bargaining chip”.
Trump’s ceasefire planThe agreement, accepted by Israel and Hamas, stipulated that the delivery of all 48 hostages would be completed by noon on Monday. Hamas returned all 20 living hostages on Monday.
But the US-brokered ceasefire agreement appears to acknowledge that Hamas and other Palestinian groups may not find all the hostage remains before a deadline set on Monday.
According to the agreement, Israel also agreed to hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians in exchange for each dead Israeli hostage.
The Hamas-run health ministry confirmed on Wednesday that Israel had returned the bodies of 45 more Palestinians, bringing the total number of bodies released by Israel to 90.
Meanwhile, those living in Gaza state that their concerns about the permanence of the ceasefire are increasing and that food prices are increasing as Palestinians stock up on food.
Traders and suppliers in the area are hoarding foodstuffs to create shortages and increase profits, fearing a resumption of fighting, locals told the BBC.
“Every time we start to feel safe, new threats emerge and we fear the war will start again,” says Neven Al-Mughrabi, a displaced Gazan mother of six living in Khan Younis.
“I lost my home in Gaza, I decided to stay here with my family because I don’t trust the ceasefire and we are tired of being displaced.”
He added that a trader in the main market of Khan Younis said demand for flour, oil and sugar increased within hours. “Despite the sudden rise in prices of about 30%, people are buying as if they do not trust that the calm will last long, everyone is afraid that the aid will stop,” says Neven.
US advisers also said the US was working with Israel to create “safe areas” behind the yellow line so people could flee if they felt threatened by Hamas.
Advisers said they did not see a future in which Hamas could rule parts of Gaza in the long term.
The current focus, according to advisers, is on “de-conflict” that would allow aid to flow into Gaza and rebuilding to begin at a time when the international security force is still in its infancy.
