Tensions surged in Israel on Wednesday after the Israeli military claimed that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas as part of the ongoing ceasefire agreement does not belong to any of the hostages held in Gaza. The revelation has added fresh strain to an already fragile truce.
Four bodies were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday to ease pressure on the ceasefire, following the first four on Monday, when the last 20 living hostages were released. In all, Israel was awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 deceased hostages.
After overnight forensic tests on the four bodies returned on Tuesday, the Israeli Army said medical officials concluded that one “does not match any of the hostages.”
“Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages,” the Israeli military warned in a statement.
Since Monday, under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has handed back 20 surviving Israeli hostages and eight bodies, including one Nepalese, six Israelis, and an unidentified eighth, according to the AFP.
Netanyahu Pressures Hamas to Honour Ceasefire Terms
Separately, a Gaza hospital said it had received the remains of 45 Palestinians handed back by Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded on Wednesday that Hamas fulfill the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal, introduced by US President Donald Trump, regarding the return of hostages’ bodies.
“We will not compromise on this and will not stop our efforts until we return the last deceased hostage, until the last one,” Netanyahu said.
The US-proposed ceasefire plan required all hostages, living and deceased, to be handed over by a deadline that expired on Monday. If that did not happen, Hamas was expected to share information about deceased hostages and work to hand them over as soon as possible.
Not the First Time Hamas Returned the Wrong Body
This is not the first time Hamas has returned the wrong body to Israel. Earlier this year, during a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons. Israelis endured another moment of agony when testing revealed one of the bodies was actually that of a Palestinian woman. Bibas’ body was returned a day later and positively identified.
Hazem Kassem, a Hamas spokesperson, said on Telegram on Wednesday that the group was working to return the bodies of the hostages as agreed in the ceasefire deal. He accused Israel of violating the agreement with shootings on Tuesday in eastern Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the military was operating along the deployment lines laid out in the deal and warned that anyone approaching those lines would be targeted. Several militants were reportedly shot on Tuesday for violating these lines.
Two hostages whose bodies were released from Gaza were to be buried on Wednesday. Families and the public were invited to gather along the road to accompany the body of one hostage as it was transported from a forensics institute to a cemetery north of Tel Aviv.
In the past, tens of thousands of Israelis have lined the streets with flags to pay their respects to deceased hostages on their way to burial.
Hostage Swap and Public Grief
On Monday, Israelis celebrated the return of the last 20 living hostages from Gaza, while Palestinians rejoiced at Israel’s release of around 2,000 prisoners and detainees as part of the ceasefire’s first phase.
Families of hostages and their supporters expressed dismay over the slow return of the 28 deceased hostages. By Monday night, Hamas had released four bodies, followed by four more late on Tuesday.
Of the second group of four bodies, three were identified as Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi, and Eitan Levi.
Baruch was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Nimrodi, who had been serving with the Israeli defence body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza, was taken by militants from the Erez border crossing.
