Hamas confirms its commitment to the ceasefire, while the delay in returning the bodies of the hostages is unnerving

DEIR BALAH (Gaza Strip) – Hamas moved on Friday to support the fragile ceasefire agreement with Israel by reaffirming its commitment to the terms of the agreement, including a pledge to hand over the remains of all dead Israeli hostages.

The movement’s statement, issued in the early hours of Friday, comes after a stern warning from US President Donald Trump that he will give the green light to Israel to resume the war if Hamas does not adhere to its side of the deal and return all the bodies of the hostages.

Read more: How Trump’s approval changed after the Gaza ceasefire, according to a new AP-NORC poll

However, Hamas maintains that some bodies were buried in tunnels that were later destroyed by Israel, and heavy machinery has to dig through the rubble to recover them.

The group also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his call to cut off aid to Gaza, saying it was an attempt to manipulate humanitarian needs “for political gain.”

In a follow-up statement on Friday, Hamas urged mediators to increase the flow of aid into Gaza, speed up the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and begin the reconstruction process, especially of homes, hospitals and schools. The resolution also called for “immediately starting” to form a committee of independents to manage the Gaza Strip, and called for Israeli forces to continue withdrawing from the agreed-upon areas.

Trump’s ceasefire plan called for all hostages – living and dead – to be handed over by a deadline that expired on Monday. But under the agreement, if that did not happen, Hamas was to share information about the dead hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible.

Netanyahu said that Israel “will not concede” and called on Hamas to fulfill the requirements stipulated in the ceasefire agreement regarding the return of the hostages’ bodies.

Obstacles to recovering bodies

Hamas has confirmed to the United States through intermediaries that it is working to return the dead hostages. US officials say the recovery of bodies is hampered by the extent of the destruction, as well as the presence of dangerous unexploded ordnance.

The armed group also informed the mediators that some bodies are located in areas controlled by Israeli forces. On Friday, Hamas crews were seen in Hamad Town near Khan Yunis searching for the bodies of the hostages.

On Wednesday, Israel received the remains of two more hostages shortly after its military announced that one of the eight bodies previously handed over was not that of a hostage. Israel is awaiting the return of the bodies of the 28 hostages.

Hamas released all 20 living Israeli hostages on Monday. In return, Israel released about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Read more: The released hostage participates in the funeral of an Israeli soldier whose body was among those returning from Gaza

Israel also returned the bodies of 90 Palestinians to Gaza for burial. Israel is expected to hand over more bodies, although officials have not said how many are in its custody or how many will be returned. It is unclear whether the remains belong to Palestinians who died in Israeli prisons or were taken by Israeli forces from Gaza. Throughout the war, the Israeli army exhumed bodies as part of its search for the remains of hostages.

The Palestinian forensic team that examined the remains said that some of the bodies showed signs of abuse.

The fighting has killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health, part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza. The Ministry maintains detailed records of victims that UN agencies and independent experts generally consider reliable.

Thousands more are missing, according to the Red Cross and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

France says that the international force in Gaza is on its way

Meanwhile, France said it was working with its “British and American partners” to propose a UN resolution in the coming days that would provide a framework for the international force in Gaza.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreau said in a press conference on Thursday that Arab countries are “very determined” to obtain UN authorization for this force.

He added, “This decision will provide a framework for deploying this mission to support… the Palestinian security forces, which are in the process of assessing what they will need and what they are able to do.”

He did not say whether France would ultimately participate or what its role would be. “First is the mandate,” he said, followed by identifying which countries will participate, then details about who is providing what, which could include equipment, training and funds.

Confafro said aid, reconstruction and security efforts must be centralized within the UN system.

The killings in Gaza are unnerving

Hamas was also put on the defensive after Trump warned that “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if the militant group does not stop killing rival factions inside Gaza.

Trump said that US forces would not be the ones to carry out any punishment, but “the people very close, very close are the ones who will come in and they will do the trick very easily, but under our watch.”

The president did not specify whether he was talking about Israel, but the action taken by Israeli forces could lead to a violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

A Hamas official on Thursday defended the killings of alleged gang members carried out by the movement in Gaza since Monday.

The Hamas movement’s political representative in Lebanon, Ahmed Abdel Hadi, said in Beirut that the individuals killed “caused death and corruption in Gaza and killed the displaced and those seeking aid.”

Hadi said that the decision to sentence them to death came from the “judicial authority,” in an apparent reference to customary tribal judicial procedures. There are no functioning formal courts in the war-torn enclave.

He said that this was done by Palestinian national and tribal consensus. “I mean their clan agreed to this, not just Hamas.”

Wait for the massive aid flow to Gaza to continue

The United Nations said that the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza remains restricted due to the continued closure of crossings and restrictions imposed on relief organizations.

According to the UN dashboard that monitors the movement of aid trucks into Gaza, only 339 trucks have arrived in the Strip and been unloaded for distribution since the start of the ceasefire on October 10. Under the ceasefire agreement, 600 aid trucks will be allowed to enter Gaza daily.

The UN figures differ significantly from those provided by the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, an Israeli defense body that oversees humanitarian aid in Gaza. A spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories reported the crossing of 950 trucks on Thursday and 716 on Wednesday. The crossings were closed on Monday and Tuesday for the exchange of hostages and prisoners and on the occasion of a Jewish holiday.

Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian aid coordinator, said that rapid and unhindered access, sustainable fuel delivery, restoration of infrastructure, protection of aid workers, and adequate funding are all essential for the UN plan to deliver aid over 60 days to succeed.

Currently, Israel allows only 15 humanitarian organizations to deliver aid to Gaza.

The Gaza Truck Drivers Association, which organizes aid transfers from the Gaza side of the border after Israeli inspections, said there had been no significant increase in supplies arriving since the ceasefire. However, it indicated an improvement in the security situation, which prevented looting or gangs intercepting aid convoys.

“No progress has been achieved,” said Nahid Shuhaiber, head of the Private Truck Drivers Union in Gaza. “There is only one thing that has improved, which is the security of trucks that enable them to reach the warehouses.”

Shuhaiber said that only 70 trucks entered Gaza on Thursday, adding that the waiting time for truck inspection and coordination is still long.

Since the beginning of the ceasefire, at least nine humanitarian organizations have gradually resumed their services in Gaza City and parts of northern Gaza to displaced families and returnees, according to a UN humanitarian report issued on Thursday.

Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.