Israel says return of misidentified body breaches Gaza deal, mulls response

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says helium is deciding adjacent steps aft Hamas returned the remains of a antecedently recovered captive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas has committed a “clear violation” of the ceasefire statement successful Gaza by returning remains belonging to a antecedently recovered captive.

Netanyahu’s announcement connected Tuesday has rattled the already straining ceasefire agreement and sparked fears implicit the quality of the Israeli response.

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The Israeli person said helium would convene apical information officials for an exigency treatment aboriginal successful the time to determine connected “Israel’s adjacent steps”, calling abbreviated a proceeding successful his ongoing corruption trial.

The latest remains handed implicit by Hamas were not from the 13 dormant captives yet to beryllium returned, according to Netanyahu. Instead, helium said they were those of a captive whose assemblage had already been retrieved by Israeli forces astir 2 years ago.

Netanyahu’s far-right furniture has called for harsh measures successful response, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urging the re-arrest of Palestinians released successful exchanges “in effect to Hamas’s repeated and ongoing violations”.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the close effect was to “destroy [Hamas] completely”.

Other options see halting the already constricted travel of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, expanding Israeli power of the enclave, oregon ordering aerial strikes targeting Hamas leaders, according to Israeli media.

Family grieves

Netanyahu identified the remains delivered connected Monday arsenic belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, an Israeli kidnapped from the Nova euphony festival during an onslaught led by Hamas connected October 7, 2023.

His assemblage was recovered by Israeli forces successful November 2023. In March 2024, his household received further remains for burial.

Tzarfati’s household said successful a connection that this is the 3rd clip “we person been forced to unfastened Ofir’s sedate and rebury our son”.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main radical representing relatives of Israeli captives, demanded an urgent gathering with Netanyahu and said Hamas could not “be fixed a walk for violating the agreement”.

In a statement, the radical accused Hamas of “cynical manipulation” and “dishonouring our loved ones”.

“The Israeli authorities cannot and indispensable not disregard this, and indispensable enactment decisively against these violations,” said the group.

Hamas agreed to instrumentality the remains of captives to Israel nether the ceasefire agreement, but 13 bodies person yet to beryllium turned implicit to Israeli authorities, posing a situation to implementing the adjacent stages of the agreement.

Hamas has said it is struggling to find the bodies amid the immense demolition by Israel successful Gaza, though the hunt has accelerated successful caller days with the accomplishment of dense machinery from Egypt.

On Tuesday, the radical announced connected the messaging app Telegram that it had recovered different assemblage successful a passageway nether the Gaza Strip. The handover was scheduled for 8pm section clip (18:00 GMT).

Ceasefire looks safe: Analyst

Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera analogous Nour Odeh said that determination were calls from Netanyahu’s allies and opponents alike to punish Hamas implicit the issue.

“Even the absorption is pushing Netanyahu, saying this should not beryllium near unanswered and that Hamas is deliberately delaying the instrumentality of the bodies,” she said.

But Israeli governmental expert Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera that the quality was improbable to derail the full ceasefire agreement, with the United States and its determination partners truthful heavy invested successful the woody to extremity the two-year war.

“This full conception that the future, the contiguous of the ceasefire, the assistance millions request truthful urgently, the accidental to extremity a two-year genocidal run — that each of this volition simply beryllium thrown retired due to the fact that of a ‘violation’ is ridiculous,” Goldberg said.