GAZA CITY — Israel’s military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has threatened that the genocide in Gaza will continue despite the ceasefire now in effect, amid repeated Israeli violations.
Zamir told commanders during a gathering of the army’s senior leadership that the military’s objectives remain incomplete while bodies of captives remain in Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.
“The war is not yet over,” Zamir said.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, Israel has violated the truce more than 80 times, killing over 97 people and injuring 230 others.
The violations included crimes of direct gunfire against civilians, deliberate shelling and targeting, and the arrest of a number of civilians, reflecting the occupation’s continued policy of aggression despite the declared end of the war, said the Office, after Israel stepped up attacks across Gaza.
Israel has also weaponized the aid entering the Palestinian enclave and said the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would remain closed. According to the UN and aid agencies, a major ramp-up of aid needed to ease famine and suffering in Gaza after two years of war has yet to happen despite the ceasefire that calls for increased humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
Israel claims the violations come because Hamas has been too slow to turn over bodies of dead captives and hasn’t returned all the bodies.
Is this correct?
No.
Hamas negotiators have reportedly stated during ceasefire talks that the presence of Israeli forces and the genocidal, indiscriminate Israeli attacks that caused widespread destruction would complicate the task of locating the bodies of dead captives, requiring greater time and effort.
“They made it clear during the negotiations that time and great efforts will be needed after the withdrawal of the occupying Israeli forces, to collect information about the bodies,” a Hamas source told MEE.
“This was clear and accepted during the negotiations. The signed agreement included a very clear clause about this. Clause 5 e in the agreement stated: ‘Establishment of an information-sharing mechanism between the two sides through the mediators and the ICRC, to exchange information and intelligence on any remaining deceased hostages that were not retrieved within the 72 hours or remains of Gazans held by Israel. The mechanism shall ensure that the remains of all the hostages are fully and safely exhumed and released. Hamas shall exert maximum effort to ensure the fulfilment of these commitments as soon as possible’”.
Hamas released all the 20 living captives during the first days of the ceasefire. Over the past days, it has also handed over the bodies of 15 so far.
Trump spoke earlier on the difficulty of retrieving the bodies of Israeli captives from destroyed areas in Gaza.
“It’s a gruesome process. I almost hate to talk about it so. But they’re digging. They are actually digging,” Trump told reporters in the White House.
“There are areas where they are digging, and they are finding a lot of bodies. Then they have to separate the bodies. You wouldn’t believe this. And some of those bodies have been in there a long time. And some of them are under rubble. They have to remove rubble,” Trump said.
“Some are in tunnels, that died in tunnels, that are way down under the earth. And the tunnels are like three feet. Can you believe it, three feet high? They lived like this for a long period of time. It’s a horrible atrocity,” he said.
Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, released a statement saying it has met its commitments under Trump’s Gaza plan as it pertains to Israeli captives in Gaza.
“The resistance has adhered to what was agreed upon and has handed over all the living prisoners it has and the bodies it can access,” it said.
“As for the remaining bodies, they require significant efforts and special equipment to search for and retrieve them, and we are making great efforts to close this file.”
Israeli ministers, journalists, and analysts are also pushing the government to resume its genocide in Gaza, exploiting that all soldier prisoners were released.
Hamas, accompanied by the ICRC, has joined Egyptian teams authorised by Israel to search for remains beyond the so-called “Yellow Line”. An Israeli spokesperson said the Egyptian team would use excavator machines and trucks in the search. The Yellow Line is a non-physical demarcation line separating the Israeli occupation forces from certain areas of Gaza, while maintaining control over approximately 50% of the enclave.
Here’s Also a Recap of Why Hamas Could Not Find All Israeli Bodies
Massive destruction: Some of the bodies are believed to be buried under enormous piles of rubble created by Israel’s bombardment, requiring heavy machinery and advanced scanning technology.
Restricted access: Over half of Gaza remains under Israeli military control, leaving Palestinian teams unable to move freely or operate safely.
Lost information: Many resistance fighters who guarded or documented the captives’ locations were assassinated in Israeli strikes, taking vital information with them.
Fragmented control: Some captives were held by smaller Palestinian factions rather than Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, creating further uncertainty.
Israel’s blockade: Israel continues to block the entry of heavy machinery and bulldozers into the Gaza Strip, delaying efforts to recover the bodies of its own prisoners, who were killed by its intense bombardment of the enclave.
In addition, Gaza has no DNA testing capacity to identify decomposed remains. Laboratories equipped with PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology are required to extract genetic material from decayed tissues, a process impossible under Israel’s blockade conditions. — QNN
