Hamas hands over bodies of two Israeli hostages amid fragile Gaza truce | Israel

Hamas handed over two bodies of dead Israeli hostages on Thursday, a day after a tenuous ceasefire in Gaza was rocked by deadly Israeli attacks in the strip.

The bodies of hostages Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch were returned to Israel for burial after the identification process was completed, the Israeli military said in a statement late Thursday.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas released all living hostages in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and prisoners of war, while Israel withdrew its troops, halted its attacks, and increased aid to the strip.

Hamas also agreed to hand over the remains of 28 dead hostages in exchange for 360 Palestinian militants killed in the war. He has now delivered 15 bodies.

Israel says Hamas has been too slow to hand over the remaining bodies of hostages in Gaza, while Hamas says it will take time to locate and return all the remains.

Families of some of the hostages are desperate to provide a proper burial for their loved ones and fear their remains will be lost forever under the rubble of Gaza.

Thousands of Palestinians, thought to have died amid the massive destruction, are still missing.

The dispute over the recovery and return of the hostages’ bodies has been one of the challenges complicating US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war completely.

We still face major obstacles, including the future governance of Gaza and the demand for Hamas disarmament. At the same time, the parties are accused of violating the ceasefire. From Tuesday to Wednesday, Israel retaliated against a Palestinian attack on its soldiers, which killed one soldier and responded with bombardments that killed 104 people, Gaza health officials said.

Gaza Ministry of Health said that 46 children and 20 women were among the 104 people killed in the airstrikes. Israel said its strikes targeted dozens of militants.

Eyewitnesses said Israeli planes launched 10 air strikes on areas east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, while tanks bombed the east of Gaza City in the north before dawn on Thursday. There was no loss of life.

The Israeli army said it had carried out “decisive” attacks against “terrorist infrastructure that poses a threat to soldiers” in areas of Gaza where its forces are still stationed.

Gaza residents said they fear a resumption of fighting.

“We are afraid of another war, because we don’t want a war. We have suffered displacement for two years. We don’t know where to go or where to come,” said Fathi al-Najjar, a displaced man in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

In the tent camp where Najjar was speaking, boys and girls were filling plastic bottles with water from metal containers placed on the streetside, and women were cooking food for their families in wood ovens made of clay.

The war has displaced most of Gaza’s more than 2 million people; Some of these happened several times. Many have not yet returned to their home areas for fear of imminent displacement again.