Israel to halve aid into Gaza over slow return of dead hostages

The fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war faces an early test as the slower-than-hoped return of deceased hostages from Gaza prompted an Israeli military agency to declare a “violation” of the truce agreement.

The agency said it would respond to this by halving the number of trucks allowed to bring humanitarian aid into the devastated territory.

The United Nations’ humanitarian office in Gaza received word of the cuts from the Israeli military agency in charge of transferring aid to the territory, according to spokesperson Olga Cherevko.

US officials and international aid groups were also notified, sources said. The Israeli government did not immediately comment.

A day earlier, Israelis celebrated the return of the last 20 living hostages in Gaza and Palestinians rejoiced at Israel’s release of some 2,000 prisoners and detainees as part of the ceasefire’s first phase.

Now, attention in Israel has turned to when Hamas will return all the bodies of hostages who died in captivity.

While Israeli officials had understood there could be some delay in the recovery effort, the families of hostages and their supporters expressed dismay that only four of the 28 bodies were returned on Monday.

The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organisation representing many of the hostage families, called it a “blatant violation of the agreement by Hamas”.

The top official in Israel coordinating the return of hostages and the missing, Gal Hirsch, told the families in a note that pressure was being applied on Hamas through international mediators to expedite the process.

Ms Cherevko said the UN continues to encourage all sides “to adhere to the agreements that have been set out in the ceasefire parameters”.

She added: “We certainly very much hope that the bodies of the hostages are handed over and that the ceasefire continues to be implemented.”

US president Donald Trump expressed concern in a social media post that too few of the dead hostages have been returned to Israel.

He made no mention in his post of Israel halving the flow of aid into the territory.

Trump said he wants back dead hostages held in Gaza and warned Hamas if “they don’t disarm, we will disarm them”.

In Gaza, the health ministry said that the bodies of three people killed by the Israeli military in the northern part of the territory were taken to Al Ahli hospital.

The Israeli military said troops there had “opened fire to remove the threat” of several people approaching them and not complying with orders to stop.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israeli forces pulled back to where they were in August, before launching their latest offensive on the Gaza City.

The pullback leaves a number of hard-hit Palestinian areas under Israeli control, and Israel has warned residents not to try to return to homes there.