Israel Threatens to Resume Fighting if Hamas Fails to Honor Ceasefire Deal
The Israeli defense minister has warned that his country will resume military action against Hamas if the Palestinian group fails to adhere to a US-backed ceasefire agreement.
JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, has issued a statement threatening to resume military operations against Hamas if the Palestinian militant group does not honor the terms of a US-backed ceasefire that put an end to the recent conflict in Gaza.
According to the announcement from his office, this warning comes after Hamas handed over the remains of two more deceased hostages and asserted its inability to retrieve any remaining bodies from the ruins of Gaza without specialized equipment.Since Monday, under the ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has returned 20 surviving hostages to Israel in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners who were freed from Israeli jails.
Prior to the two bodies being handed over late on Wednesday, Hamas had already returned the remains of seven out of 28 known deceased hostages, along with an eighth body that Israel said was not a former hostage.Katz’s office warned that if Hamas refuses to adhere to the agreement, Israel will resume fighting in coordination with the United States, aiming to achieve a complete defeat of Hamas and alter the reality in Gaza.
The Israeli military has been pulling back to specific lines as part of this ceasefire deal.Hamas’ armed wing, known as the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, stated that they have fulfilled their commitment to the agreement by returning all living Israeli prisoners in their custody, along with the corpses they could access.
They noted that retrieving and extracting the remaining bodies require extensive efforts and specialized equipment but assured that they are exerting great effort to close this file.Senior US advisers maintain that Hamas still intends to honor the deal despite the ongoing pressure from Israel to do so.
Any delay in returning the remaining bodies is likely to increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to link humanitarian aid to their fate.
The far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off much-needed aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of Israeli soldiers still held there.Meanwhile, Israel has transferred 45 Palestinian bodies from its custody to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, bringing the total returned to 90, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Under Trump’s plan, Israel is required to return 15 Palestinian dead for every deceased Israeli hostage.
The UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has urged Israel to open all crossings into Gaza immediately for humanitarian aid as part of this agreement.The war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7, 2023, has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the densely populated territory relies heavily on limited and restricted aid.
The United Nations declared a famine in Gaza at the end of August, though Israel rejected that claim.
Returning aid is included in Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.Another significant political challenge is Hamas’s refusal to disarm, a demand that both Israel and the United States have made as a condition for participating in any future government for the territory.
Despite this, Hamas continues to solidify its control over Gaza’s devastated cities.
According to the announcement from his office, this warning comes after Hamas handed over the remains of two more deceased hostages and asserted its inability to retrieve any remaining bodies from the ruins of Gaza without specialized equipment.Since Monday, under the ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has returned 20 surviving hostages to Israel in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners who were freed from Israeli jails.
Prior to the two bodies being handed over late on Wednesday, Hamas had already returned the remains of seven out of 28 known deceased hostages, along with an eighth body that Israel said was not a former hostage.Katz’s office warned that if Hamas refuses to adhere to the agreement, Israel will resume fighting in coordination with the United States, aiming to achieve a complete defeat of Hamas and alter the reality in Gaza.
The Israeli military has been pulling back to specific lines as part of this ceasefire deal.Hamas’ armed wing, known as the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, stated that they have fulfilled their commitment to the agreement by returning all living Israeli prisoners in their custody, along with the corpses they could access.
They noted that retrieving and extracting the remaining bodies require extensive efforts and specialized equipment but assured that they are exerting great effort to close this file.Senior US advisers maintain that Hamas still intends to honor the deal despite the ongoing pressure from Israel to do so.
Any delay in returning the remaining bodies is likely to increase pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to link humanitarian aid to their fate.
The far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off much-needed aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of Israeli soldiers still held there.Meanwhile, Israel has transferred 45 Palestinian bodies from its custody to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, bringing the total returned to 90, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Under Trump’s plan, Israel is required to return 15 Palestinian dead for every deceased Israeli hostage.
The UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has urged Israel to open all crossings into Gaza immediately for humanitarian aid as part of this agreement.The war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7, 2023, has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the densely populated territory relies heavily on limited and restricted aid.
The United Nations declared a famine in Gaza at the end of August, though Israel rejected that claim.
Returning aid is included in Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.Another significant political challenge is Hamas’s refusal to disarm, a demand that both Israel and the United States have made as a condition for participating in any future government for the territory.
Despite this, Hamas continues to solidify its control over Gaza’s devastated cities.
