Trump warns of allowing Israel to resume Gaza war as Hamas struggles to find bodies of hostages

In a major turn of events, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would consider allowing Israel to resume war in Gaza if Hamas refuses to uphold its obligation under the ceasefire deal, which was agreed earlier this month. While speaking to CNN, Trump said that if Hamas fails to follow through, he could allow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume military action in the coastal enclave.

Trump warned that Israel forces could return to the streets “as soon as I say the word.” “What’s going on with Hamas – that’ll be straightened out quickly,” the president said in a brief telephone call with CNN. Trump’s remarks on the matter came shortly after Israel accused Hamas of not abiding by the agreement to hand over all hostages, living or dead.

This caused anger in Israel, and the country eventually told the United Nations that the humanitarian aid shipments expected to be allowed into Gaza will be reduced or delayed because of the small number of deceased hostages turned over. Point 4 of the 20-point deal proposed by Trump stated that “Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.”

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However, as of Wednesday morning, while all 20 living Israeli hostages had been returned to the Jewish nation, Hamas has only returned the bodies of eight dead hostages. Out of this, the Israeli military claimed that one of them does not belong to an Israeli hostage.

A source familiar with the exchange told CNN that four to five more bodies are expected to be returned by Thursday evening. During the telephonic interview, Trump maintained that the rescue of the living hostages was important in its own right. “Getting those 20 hostages out was paramount,” the US president said.

US remains optimistic

After Trump’s CNN interview, two senior US advisers said on the condition of anonymity that the US does not believe Hamas is violating its commitments to the ceasefire agreement by failing to produce the remains of former hostages. They maintained that Washington has received assurances from the group, through third-party mediators, that they would do everything possible to locate and return the remaining bodies.

They also stated that the United States was actively working through the mediators to provide intelligence and logistical support to locate the remaining bodies, which in many cases could be buried under rubble and debris left behind after two years of war.

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In the midst of all this, violent clashes also erupted in Gaza between Hamas and rival groups, including an incident that culminated in an apparent public execution. Earlier this week, Trump warned that Hamas must also disarm or “we will disarm them.” His 20-point plan contemplates a future in which Hamas agrees not to have any role in the governance of Gaza, which will be demilitarised and under independent monitoring.

However, all the sides involved in the ceasefire negotiation acknowledged that it still has to do more work to resolve the future of Gaza, and that the agreement that prompted the hostage release is only Phase 1. Trump told CNN that right now, Hamas is “going in and clearing out the gangs, violent gangs.” “I’m researching it,” he said when asked if Hamas might have been executing innocent Palestinians. “We’ll find out about it. It could be gangs plus,” he said.