Hostage Row Puts Gaza Ceasefire on the Brink

Thursday, 16 October 2025 | PNS | Israel

Hostage Row Puts Gaza Ceasefire on the Brink

Thursday, 16 October 2025 | PNS | Israel

Israel on Thursday warned that it would resume military operations in Gaza if Hamas failed to uphold its commitments under the fragile ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump. The threat came after Hamas claimed it could not return more bodies of deceased Israeli hostages without specialist equipment to recover remains trapped under the rubble.

Earlier in the day, Hamas handed over the remains of two hostages, bringing the total confirmed deceased to nine. Israel said a tenth body received was not that of a hostage. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that unless Hamas fulfilled its obligations, Israel—coordinating with the United States—would restart operations “to achieve a total defeat of Hamas and change the reality in Gaza.”

The dispute over body recovery has become a major flashpoint in the ceasefire, which has seen Hamas release 20 surviving hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 1,700 held without charge.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials confirmed that the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would remain closed, halting the expected flow of humanitarian aid. A COGAT spokesperson said supplies would instead be routed through alternative entry points. Aid agencies have cautioned that Rafah’s closure could deepen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, with famine already declared in parts of the enclave in August.

Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, maintained that it had met its commitments by releasing all living hostages and returning accessible remains. It added that further recovery efforts required “special equipment” to navigate Gaza’s devastated landscape.

US officials admitted the challenges, saying Gaza had been “pulverised.” Mediators are reportedly exploring a reward mechanism to encourage locals to locate bodies. Under the ceasefire, Israel must also return 360 Palestinian bodies; doctors in Gaza said many of the 90 returned so far showed signs of torture and execution.