US Rejects Claims Hamas Breached Ceasefire Over Delay in Returning Hostage Bodies

The United States has rejected claims that Hamas is violating its ceasefire agreement with Israel by failing to return all the bodies of slain hostages, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Hamas has so far handed over nine of the 28 bodies of Israeli hostages it holds, saying the remaining corpses lie buried deep under rubble and require specialized equipment for recovery.

Two senior advisers to US President Donald Trump said that Washington does not view the delay as a breach of the ceasefire and confirmed that plans to demilitarize Gaza and install a transitional government are proceeding as planned.

Israel, frustrated by the delayed handover, has restricted pledged humanitarian aid to Gaza. One of the US advisers noted that the extent of destruction in the enclave means retrieving all the bodies could take weeks.

Under the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, Hamas is obligated to return the remains of all 28 dead hostages. The group’s armed wing said in a statement: “The remaining bodies require significant efforts and specialized equipment to search for and retrieve, and we are making a great effort to close this file.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday warned that the military must be ready to act if Hamas fails to fulfill the terms of the agreement.

As part of the accord, Israel has agreed to return the bodies of 15 slain Palestinians for each Israeli hostage’s remains.