Not even 24 hours after the agreement on the first phase of the Trump plan was signed in Sharm el Sheikh, tensions between Israel and Hamas began to rise again. And the truce is already under pressure.
The Israeli authorities complain about the failure to immediately return all 28 bodies of the hostages who died in Gaza, while today they sent the remains of 45 dead Palestinians back to Khan Younis. The response was immediate and quick: the Rafah crossing will remain closed.
For its part, the Islamic Movement has denounced violations of the ceasefire, with nine people killed since this morning in IDF bombings in the city of Gaza and in Khan Younis.
Immediately after exchanging the live prisoners, Hamas returned four bodies. For the others we will have to search and dig, he reiterated. Already during the Sharm el Sheikh negotiations he had made it clear that it would take time to identify the burials, with Gaza devastated and reduced to rubble after two years of bombing. But Israel doesn’t believe it. A security source assured N12 that Hamas knows very well the location of more than 10 bodies and the decision not to release them is a serious violation.
A team of Egyptian experts has also arrived in the Strip and is working together with the Israelis to search for the tombs.
And the torment of the family members who are pushing for an acceleration does not subside. The Abductees’ Forum wrote to US envoy Steve Witkoff: “Our fears have come true. We ask you to do everything possible to demand that Hamas respects its commitments.”
The appeal did not fall on deaf ears. “The pressure on Hamas will continue to intensify,” promised Gal Hirsch who in recent months has coordinated efforts to bring everyone home. And punitive measures are already ready.
The Rafah crossing with Egypt will not reopen and trucks will enter Gaza slowly until the 24 bodies of killed hostages who are still missing are returned.
Hamas also reports violations. Spokesman Hazem Qassem accused Israel of not respecting the truce with the IDF operations this morning. «We are committed to respecting them. We have informed the mediators of the difficulties that we are doing everything we can to resolve,” he told al Hadeth television.