Israel threatens to resume fighting if Hamas fails to honor truce deal

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Wednesday that if Hamas does not demilitarize and return all bodies of hostages it holds, Israel will return to fighting.

The statement from Defence Minister Israel Katz's office came after Hamas handed over the remains of two more deceased hostages, and said it would be unable to retrieve any more bodies from the ruins of Gaza without specialized equipment.

Since Monday, under a ceasefire agreement brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, Hamas has handed back 20 surviving hostages to Israel in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.

Before the two bodies were handed over late on Wednesday, Hamas had already returned the remains of seven of 28 known deceased hostages along with an eighth body which Israel said was not that of a former hostage.

"If Hamas refuses to comply with the agreement, Israel, in coordination with the United States, will resume fighting and act to achieve a total defeat of Hamas, to change the reality in Gaza and achieve all the objectives of the war," according to a statement from Katz's office.

In a meeting earlier on Wednesday with the chief of staff and senior military officers, Katz instructed the military to prepare "a comprehensive plan to defeat Hamas" should Israel decide to resume its campaign in Gaza. He said the plan was to be drafted should Hamas "refuse to implement (U.S. President Donald) Trump's plan and fighting needs to be renewed."

Hamas's armed wing said the two bodies returned would be the last for now – falling far short of the plan's demand to hand over all of them.

"The Resistance has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement by handing over all living Israeli prisoners in its custody, as well as the corpses it could access," the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on social media.

"As for the remaining corpses, it requires extensive efforts and special equipment for their retrieval and extraction. We are exerting great effort in order to close this file."

This is likely to pile further domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie humanitarian aid to the fate of the bodies.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off desperately needed aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the Palestinian territory.

Humanitarian risk

Meanwhile, Israel transferred another 45 Palestinian bodies that had been in its custody to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, bringing the number returned to 90, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry said.

Under the Trump plan, Israel is to return 15 Palestinian dead for every deceased Israeli hostage.

Israel on Tuesday announced that it was cutting half the number of truckloads carrying aid allowed into Gaza, or by about 300 truckloads, claiming that the capping was triggered by the failure of Hamas to deliver the remains of deceased hostages.

With the deal underway, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN had reported that the Rafah crossing point to Egypt would reopen, but this did not happen.

Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, is expected to head to the Rafah crossing on Thursday.

It's the only border point that connects Gaza to the world without passing through Israel.

"The test is that we have children fed, that we have anaesthetics in the hospitals for people getting treatment, that we have tents over people's heads," Fletcher said.

Possible violations

Gaza's civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas, said Israeli fire killed three Palestinians on Wednesday, including two while trying to reach their homes in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.

The Israeli military said that "several suspects were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching" troops in the northern Gaza Strip, referencing the line to which Israeli forces have pulled back to under the ceasefire deal.

The military said this "violates the agreement" and that "troops removed the threat by striking the suspects."

The conflict sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel led to a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with the densely populated territory reliant on aid that was heavily restricted, when not cut off outright.

At the end of August, the United Nations declared a famine in Gaza, though Israel rejected the claim. The return of aid is listed in Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza.

Another political challenge is Hamas's disarmament, a demand the militant group has refused to accept.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump warned: "If they (Hamas) don't disarm, we will disarm them. And it will happen quickly, and perhaps violently."

(With input from agencies)