Israel threatens to break Trump's Gaza ceasefire if Hamas does not return all deceased hostages

Israel has threatened to continue military operations in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet the terms of the ceasefire deal currently in place, brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Israel's Minister for Defence Israel Katz made the warning in a statement on Oct. 15, just after Hamas returned two more deceased Israeli hostages' bodies.

As part of the peace plan, a total of 20 living hostages and 28 known deceased hostages are expected to be handed over by Hamas.

All 20 living hostages have since been released on Oct. 13 in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, while only nine bodies have been handed over so far.

A tenth body was returned to Israel on Oct. 14, but Israeli officials said it "does not match any of the hostages" known to them.

Hamas unable to retrieve more bodies

Hamas has said the latest two bodies returned would be the last for now, and that it would not be able to retrieve anymore bodies from the rubble in Gaza without specialised equipment.

The group added that it has fulfilled its side of the agreement by handing over all living Israeli hostages "as well as the corpses it could access", it said on social media.

However, Israel has refused to advance onto the next phase of the peace deal until all deceased bodies are returned, regardless of the predicament.

"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," Katz's office said.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was apparently aware of the "grave difficulty" in locating all hostage bodies in Gaza, including those in Israel-controlled regions, Al Jazeera reported, but the the government is supposedly under pressure by hostages' families to retrieve all deceased captives.

Top image via Reuters