Three of four bodies handed over on Tuesday night were identified as Israeli hostages but the identity of the fourth remained in question, reports the Associated Press (AP).<\/p>\n
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> demanded that Hamas fulfil the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal \u2013 introduced by US<\/strong> president Donald Trump<\/strong> \u2013 about the return of the hostages\u2019 bodies. Netanyahu said:<\/p>\n We will not compromise on this and will not stop our efforts until we return the last deceased hostage, until the last one.<\/p>\n The US-proposed ceasefire plan had called for all hostages \u2013 living and dead \u2013 to be handed over by a deadline that expired on Monday. But under the deal if that did not happen, Hamas<\/a> was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand over all as soon as possible.<\/p>\n On Monday, Israelis celebrated the return of the last 20 living hostages in Gaza and Palestinians<\/strong> rejoiced at Israel\u2019s release of 2,000 prisoners and detainees as part of the ceasefire\u2019s first phase. <\/p>\n But families of hostages and their supporters expressed dismay that the 28 dead hostages were not all returned. Hamas and the Red Cross<\/strong> have said that recovering the remains of dead hostages was a challenge because of Gaza\u2019s vast destruction, and Hamas told mediators of the deal that some are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump says Hamas will be forced to disarm or \u2018we will disarm them’ Donald Trump<\/strong> has said that Hamas<\/strong> will be forced to disarm after questions swirled around the group\u2019s status following the signing of a ceasfire deal meant to bring an end to the war in Gaza<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Trump said:<\/p>\n If they don\u2019t disarm, we will disarm them and it will happen quickly and perhaps violently.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cBut they will disarm, do you understand me?\u201d he added, saying it should take place in a \u201creasonable period of time\u201d.<\/p>\n As a Trump-brokered ceasefire<\/a> comes into effect in Gaza this week, one of the greatest question marks remains the White House<\/strong>\u2019s plans to force Hamas<\/a> to disarm and leave Gaza if and when the second phase of his 20-point deal comes into effect.<\/p>\n Trump said if Hamas are forced to disarm \u2018it will happen quickly and perhaps violently\u2019. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The US president\u2019s own remarks had suggested the group may continue to play a limited role in Gaza, as revelations surfaced of a direct meeting between White House envoys and Hamas<\/a> negotiators in the highest-level summit ever held between the two sides.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, he admitted the group would have a \u201climited role\u201d in maintaining order in the short term, raising questions about how the White House may seek to wrangle a peace deal that attempts to restrain Hamas and Israel<\/strong> from resuming the conflict.<\/p>\n Video released on Tuesday by Hamas showed the group\u2019s members executing eight blindfolded, bound and kneeling men whom it called \u201ccollaborators and outlaws\u201d. Agence France-Presse, which reported the video, said Hamas was targeting \u201cPalestinian criminal gangs and clans\u201d in Gaza<\/a> after the signing of a ceasefire between the group and Israel.<\/p>\n Aboard Air Force One<\/strong>, Trump told reporters Hamas would continue to have a limited role in enforcing security operations before phase two of the peace deal started, despite the fact his 20-point deal<\/a> expressly said that the group will disarm and abandon its aim to control the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n Trump said:<\/p>\n [Hamas] are standing because they do want to stop the problems, and they\u2019ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The rebuilding of Gaza<\/a>, he said, would be dangerous and difficult, suggesting the US<\/strong> needed to work with forces on the ground to make that possible.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.45 EDT<\/p>\n Opening summary<\/p>\n Israel<\/strong> has reportedly decided to proceed with opening the Rafah crossing<\/strong> between Gaza<\/strong> and Egypt<\/strong> and allowing the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza, after the return of the bodies of four hostages, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan.<\/p>\n On Tuesday Israel<\/a> said the flow of aid into the Gaza would be cut by half and the crucial Rafah border crossing with Egypt would not open as planned, blaming Hamas<\/strong> for delays in the return of bodies of hostages.<\/p>\n But after the militant group handed over the remains of four hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross<\/strong> on Tuesday night, bringing to eight the number of bodies transferred since the US<\/strong>-brokered ceasefire took hold, Israel changed tack, according to Kan and other media in Israel. Hamas<\/a> has said it was facing obstacles as not all the burial sites had been identified.<\/p>\n Kan said on its website without citing sources:<\/p>\n Six hundred trucks of humanitarian aid will be dispatched [Wednesday] to the Gaza Strip by the UN, approved international organisations, the private sector and donor countries.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Here is where things stand on Wednesday morning in the Middle East<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Hamas handed over four more bodies of Israeli hostages on Tuesday evening as Israel threatened to reduce aid into Gaza over delays to the release of remains.<\/strong> The Israeli military said in a statement: \u201cAccording to information provided by the Red Cross, four coffins of deceased hostages have been transferred into their custody and are on their way to IDF [military] and ISA [security agency] forces in the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Four bodies returned earlier were named <\/strong>as Yossi Sharabi, Daniel Peretz, Guy Iluz and Bipin Joshi.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Donald Trump has warned that Hamas must disarm or \u201cwe will disarm them\u201d<\/strong>, after he earlier declared<\/a> that phase two of his ceasefire agreement for Gaza \u201cbegins right now\u201d. <\/strong>\u201cThey said they were going to disarm, and if they don\u2019t disarm, we will disarm them,\u201d the US president told reporters. Asked how he would do that, Trump said: \u201cI don\u2019t have explain that to you, but if they don\u2019t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I\u2019m not playing games.\u201d Trump added that could happen \u201cquickly and perhaps violently\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Re-emergent Hamas fighters have demonstrated they were reasserting control in Gaza<\/strong> by deploying hundreds of security forces in the streets and executing several people they accused of collaborating with Israel.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has returned to the West Bank after four years of self-exile, outlining a roadmap to secure peace in Gaza with Hamas<\/a> transforming into a political party and declaring his readiness to help govern. <\/strong>Nasser al-Qudwa, a prominent critic of the current Palestinian leadership, also urged \u201ca serious confrontation of corruption in this country\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Some of the near 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees released on Monday are suffering from a range of health problems they developed during years in Israeli detention, doctors and freed prisoners in the occupied West Bank told the Associated Press. <\/strong>The Palestine<\/a> Medical Complex in Ramallah received 14 men released on Monday as part of the exchange and discharged all but two. Nasser hospital in Gaza also said the Red Cross transferred the bodies of 45 Palestinians to its morgue. The bodies were the first of an expected 450 to arrive.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The European Union should maximise its influence in Gaza\u2019s recovery process and join a US-proposed \u201cboard of peace\u201d intended to temporarily oversee governance of the territory, the EU\u2019s diplomatic arm said in a document seen by Reuters. <\/strong>Israel and Hamas carried out a hostage-prisoner exchange on Monday and a ceasefire is in force under the first phase of president Donald Trump\u2019s 20-point initiative for Gaza after two years of war.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal that halts two years of armed conflict in Gaza presents an opportunity for a lasting economic recovery in the region, the International Monetary Fund\u2019s (IMF) deputy chief economist said on Tuesday. <\/strong>Petya Koeva-Brooks said the IMF stands ready to cooperate with the international community on the recovery of Gaza<\/a> and regional economies that have been deeply affected by the conflict, including Egypt and Jordan.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Andrew_Roth,_L.png\")
Andrew Roth<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n