New Delhi,October 16, 2025 06:48 PM IST
First published on: Oct 16, 2025 at 05:55 PM IST
Share
Comments
Print
Share
Whatsapp
twitter
Facebook
In this drone photo, Palestinians walk in an intersection surrounded by buildings destroyed during two years of Israeli army bombardments in Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (AP Photo)
Israel on Thursday threatened to resume military operations in Gaza after Hamas said it could not return any more bodies of deceased Israeli hostages without specialist equipment to recover remains trapped under the rubble.
The warning from Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz came hours after Hamas handed over the remains of two more hostages, raising the total of confirmed deceased hostages returned to nine. Israel said a tenth body received was not that of a hostage.
Story continues below this ad
Katz’s office issued a statement saying that if Hamas failed to uphold its commitments, Israel — in coordination with the United States — would resume fighting “to achieve a total defeat of Hamas and change the reality in Gaza.”
The standoff over the recovery of bodies has emerged as a flashpoint in the fragile ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump. Since Monday, Hamas has released 20 surviving hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 1,700 detainees held without charge.
Rafah crossing delayed
Israeli officials also said that the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt — a critical route for humanitarian aid — would not open on Thursday as previously expected. A spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body handling civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, clarified that “humanitarian aid will not pass through the Rafah crossing” and that supplies would continue entering Gaza through other points, The Guardian reported.
Aid agencies have warned that the continued closure of Rafah would worsen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, with famine already declared in parts of the territory in August.
Hamas cites equipment shortage
Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said it had fulfilled its obligations under the deal by handing over all the living hostages and the remains it could access. It added that recovering the remaining bodies required “extensive efforts and special equipment” to extract them from the ruins of the war.
US officials acknowledged the logistical challenges. A senior adviser as quoted by The Guardian, told reporters that retrieving the bodies was “incredibly difficult because Gaza has been pulverised,” adding that mediators were exploring a reward system to encourage locals to help locate the bodies.
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel is also required to return the bodies of 360 Palestinians. Of the 90 bodies handed over so far, many showed signs of torture and execution, doctors in Gaza said.
“Almost all of them had been blindfolded, their hands tied, and shot between the eyes,” said Dr Ahmed al-Farra of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Share
In this drone photo, Palestinians walk in an intersection surrounded by buildings destroyed during two years of Israeli army bombardments in Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (AP Photo)
