Israel has accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire deal by not returning all the bodies, although the US has downplayed the claim
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he is “determined” to bring back all the remaining dead hostages from Gaza after Hamas declared that it has returned the remains of all the captives it has retrieved, adding that it cannot recover any more bodies without special equipment.
Netanyahu’s comments came as he addressed a memorial for victims of the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, where he vowed to fight terrorism with “full force”. Israel has accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire deal by not returning all the bodies, although the US has downplayed the claim.
“Our fight against terrorism will continue with full force. We will not allow evil to raise its head. We will exact the full price from anyone who harms us,” Netanyahu said.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel has asked Netanyahu’s government to “immediately halt the implementation” of the ceasefire deal till the 19 bodies are returned.
‘Will go in and kill Hamas’
US President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to “go in and kill” Hamas if it keeps killing people in Gaza, in an apparent reference to recent shootings of Palestinian civilians following a ceasefire deal with Israel.
“If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.
Trump did not elaborate on what he meant by “we.” But he said on Wednesday that “we won’t need the US military” to be involved in Gaza.
‘Fully committed’
Meanwhile, Hamas has stressed its “commitment” to the ceasefire deal with Israel and said it wants to return all the remaining bodies of hostages left in Gaza.
“The process of returning the corpses of Israeli prisoners may require some time, as some of these corpses were buried in tunnels destroyed by the occupation, while others remain under the rubble of buildings it bombed and demolished,” the Palestinian militant group said.
With inputs from agencies
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