Hamas delays return of Israeli captive’s remains over renewed Gaza strikes

GAZA (AA) — The Palestinian group Hamas on Tuesday postponed the planned handover of the body of an Israeli captive, citing Israel’s renewed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

“Any Israeli escalation will hinder search and excavation operations and the retrieval of bodies, which will delay the return of the occupiers’ dead,” the group’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.

The group had been scheduled to transfer the remains of an Israeli captive at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) under the terms of the ongoing truce.

Later in the day, Al-Qassam announced that its forces had recovered the bodies of two additional Israeli captives during operations in Gaza, identifying them as Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch.

No further details were provided, and Israeli authorities have not commented.

Israeli airstrikes since Tuesday evening have killed at least 18 Palestinians, including women and children, and wounded dozens more. Israel claimed the strikes targeted militants responsible for firing on its soldiers in Rafah.

So far, Hamas has released 20 Israeli captives alive and handed over the bodies of 17 others as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Israel has disputed one of the returned bodies, saying it did not match any of its missing captives.

The ceasefire has been in place since Oct. 10 under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, which calls for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli captives, along with Gaza’s reconstruction and the formation of a new governing mechanism excluding Hamas.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza, now in its second year, has killed more than 68,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,000 others since October 2023.