Hamas says ‘committed to truce’ as delay in return of hostages’ bodies frays nerves

Hamas on Friday moved to shore up its brittle ceasefire agreement with Israel by reaffirming its commitment to the terms of the deal, including a pledge to hand over the remains of all dead Israeli hostages.

The group’s statement released on Friday follows a dire warning from Trump that he would green-light Israel to resume the war if Hamas did not live up to its end of the deal and return all of the hostages’ bodies. Hamas, however, maintains that some bodies were buried in tunnels that were later destroyed by Israel, and heavy machinery is required to dig through rubble to retrieve them.

The group also criticised Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu over his call to cut aid to Gaza, saying it was an attempt to manipulate humanitarian needs “for political gains”.

In a follow-up statement on Friday, Hamas urged mediators to increase the flow of aid into Gaza, expedite the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and start the reconstruction process, especially for homes, hospitals and schools. It also called for steps to bring to justice “those who committed war crimes” against Palestinians. The ceasefire plan introduced by Trump had called for all hostages — living and dead — to be handed over by a deadline that expired Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible.

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