The Palestinian group Hamas This Thursday, he blamed the government of Israel of the delays in the delivery of the bodies of Israeli hostages who died in Gaza, still pending repatriation.
In a statement released on their social networks and collected by the Spanish agency EFEthe group argued that some remains of the hostages are trapped in tunnels “destroyed by the occupation” or under bombed buildings, and accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of preventing access to rescue teams necessary to recover them.
“Any delay falls squarely on Netanyahu, who blocks humanitarian resources,” Hamas said, referring to the Israeli ban on the entry of heavy machinery into Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Rafah crossing in the south, key for the entry of aid, remains closed, which according to the group is part of a strategy to “punish the Palestinians and manipulate the crisis.”
Israel accuses Hamas of “political games”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar declared that the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt, could reopen this Sunday, but accused Hamas of holding the bodies of 19 hostages “as a last resort.”
“We know that they can hand them over, but they choose not to. This reveals their barbaric nature,” he said, while accusing the Islamist movement of failing to comply with what was previously agreed. Netanyahu, for his part, promised the families to bring back “every last one” of the deceased.
Meanwhile, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which is part of the government coalition in Israel, asked the prime minister to “immediately” stop the agreement with Hama and prevent the entry of aid into Gaza until the group returns the bodies of all the hostages.
A similar position is held by the relatives of the hostages who also asked the Government to suspend the implementation of the remaining stages of the ceasefire agreement as long as Hamas “continues to violate the agreement and holds 19 hostages captive.” review EFE.
Hamas rejected the accusations and assured that the accessible bodies had already been returned, blaming the Israeli army for having “buried them under rubble.” The group insisted on its commitment to the agreement, but noted that Israel “obstructs humanitarian efforts.”
Israel expects the Rafah crossing to reopen “probably this Sunday.”https://t.co/I3lYhul7E6
— EFE News (@EFEnoticias) October 16, 2025
Trump renews threats: “we will violently disarm them”
As tensions persist, President Donald Trump issued a chilling warning from Washington: “If Hamas doesn’t stop the internal violence, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.”
Although the president clarified that he would not send US troops—“they will be allies under our auspices,” he said—his statements in Social Truth They added fuel to the fire.
Trump, who days before minimized the internal clashes in Gaza, stated that Hamas must disarm “quickly and violently,” if it does not do so of its own volition.
The White House has not offered details on how this threat would be carried out, but the message reinforces pressure on the Palestinian group, amid the growing fragility of the truce.
Trump threatens to forcibly disarm Hamas if it doesn’t hand over weapons quickly
The fragile ceasefire and negotiations in Cairo
The cessation of hostilities, effective last Friday, includes the release of live hostages and the handover of bodies, in addition to a partial Israeli withdrawal. However, the failure to comply with the deadline to repatriate all the remains – expired on Monday – has been generating growing friction.
In this context, a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to discuss post-conflict security with Egyptian mediators. Egyptian sources revealed to the press that the deployment of a thousand Palestinian troops – trained in Egypt and Jordan – will be negotiated to maintain order in Gaza under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The plan, backed by the US, would include the progressive disarmament of Hamas and its departure from the security apparatus, an action that still remains in a state of indeterminacy, as some leaders of the movement deny the possibility of disarming the militia, which has quickly filled the vacuum of authority left by the partial withdrawal of the Jewish occupiers in the enclave.
The war, unleashed on October 7, 2023, has left more than 1,200 Israelis dead, not counting more than 500 soldiers killed in military operations in Gaza and in clashes on the border with Lebanon.
On the Palestinian side, there are about 68,000 dead and 170,000 injured, according to Gaza authorities. Despite the ceasefire, at least 23 people have died and 122 have been injured since October 11, which is a reminder of the fragility of the agreement.
