By handing over two more bodies of dead hostages this evening, but also the scenes of the “settlement of accounts” that has opened with factions within it after the withdrawal of the forces within its framework, the implementation of the agreement enters a critical phase as on the one hand the ambiguities of the plan (and) with regard to how the organization will be disarmed, and on the other hand the doubts as to whether what agreed are practically feasible.
Trump threatens to give the green light to restart the war
In this context, the statements earlier by the president of the USA, on CNN, that if Hamas refuses to do its part in the framework of the cease-fire agreement, then he will consider the possibility of allowing it to resume military operations in Gaza, are of particular importance. As he typically said when asked what will happen if Hamas does not hand over the weapons: “I will think about it. Israel will return to these roads once I give the OK. If Israel can come in and hit them, they would. I had to restrain them (including the Israeli army and the Netanyahu government). I had discussed this with Bibi.”
Among other things, the US president said that what is wrong with Hamas “can be fixed very quickly”, while commenting on the scenes of violence from Gaza, he again claimed that “Hamas comes in and cleans up, gangs. Violent gangs. I’m investigating if he kills innocents too. We will find out. It could be gangs and something else.”
These statements come a few hours after he claimed regarding the disarmament of Hamas that: “They will disarm, because they said they would. And because if they don’t disarm we will disarm them. They know I don’t play games.”
CENTCOM demanded full compliance by Hamas with the agreement
It also comes hours after US Central Command (CENTCOM) Adm. Brad Cooper said: “We strongly appeal to Hamas to immediately stop the violence and shootings of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza, both in the parts of the Strip controlled by Hamas and those controlled by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) behind from the Yellow Line (s.b. reference to the line behind which Israeli forces have temporarily withdrawn as part of the ceasefire)”. According to him, Hamas must fully comply with President Trump’s plan and lay down its arms. As he said: “We have expressed these concerns to the mediators, who have agreed to work together to implement the agreement and protect the citizens in Gaza.”
Hamas claims it gave away all the bodies it had access to
For its part, Hamas, and in particular the armed wing of the organization, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that after today’s transfer of the two bodies, it has now handed over all the bodies of the dead hostages that it has managed to recover so far and that in order to hand over the rest of the bodies, there will have to be special detection and recovery operations that require special equipment.
The group said it was committed to what was agreed in the ceasefire agreement and that it was “putting a lot of effort” into closing the issue. As they specifically stated: “The Resistance has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement by handing over all living Israeli prisoners in its custody, as well as the bodies to which it had access. As for the rest of the bodies, extensive efforts and special equipment are required to retrieve and extract them. We are putting a lot of effort into closing this file.”
Israel disputes Hamas
Regarding this issue, a report by Axios claims that Israel provided the US with information from the intelligence services according to which Hamas has access to more bodies of dead hostages than it claims to have. At the same time, Israel’s defense minister instructed the country’s armed forces to prepare battle plans for military operations in case they get the green light to start again.
In addition, according to the Channel 12 report, mediators informed Hamas that “Israel’s patience is running out” as it continues to delay the return of the dead hostages, noting that negotiations to speed up their return are ongoing.
Israeli sources told the television network that: “We know exactly how many hostages Hamas is capable of releasing and whether it has access to the bodies. We made it clear to the mediators – Hamas is playing a dangerous game.”
However, the report adds that during political discussions in Israel today, many shared the view that it would be unwise at this stage to torpedo the ceasefire agreement over this issue and that it would be better to allow the process to move forward.
