The Palestinian group claims that Israel is breaking with the Gaza ceasefire agreement by refusing to reopen the crucial Rafah border crossing with Egypt after Israel and Hamas exchanged the remains of even more captives.
Aryeh Zalmanovich, 85, and army Master Sergeant Tamir Adar, 38, both identified as having been taken into custody of two more Israelis, one soldier and one civilian, late on Tuesday and later identified as having been held captive in Israel.
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Prior to the handover organized by the Hamas-based Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had received the bodies in Gaza.
Zalmanovich passed away in Gaza on November 17, 2023, and Adar passed away in a fight in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing him and returning his body to the Palestinian territory.
In accordance with Israel’s ceasefire agreement, Hamas has now handed over the bodies of 15 Israeli prisoners.
Although Hamas claims that the bodies’ recovery has been hampered by the ongoing devastation in the Palestinian territory and the Israeli military’s continued control of some of Gaza, an additional 13 sets of remains are expected to be returned to Israel.
At the start of the ceasefire, the Palestinians also released 20 of the country’s 20 most seriously incarcerated people in a single day.
According to a medical source, 15 Palestinians who were detained by Israeli forces were later brought back to Gaza where they were taken to the Nasser Medical Complex for identification.
In accordance with the ceasefire agreement, Israel has committed to release the remains of 360 more Palestinian prisoners who are still alive and are still imprisoned in Israel.
Some 45 Palestinians’ bodies arrived last week, according to a forensics team that received them, still shackled and showing signs of physical abuse and possible execution.
The Bisan Center for Research and Development’s executive director, Ubai Al-Aboudi, claimed that Palestinians who are held hostage by Israel should also be regarded as such.
Al-Aboudi, a Palestinian-based Al-Aboudi correspondent in Ramallah, claimed that “when we talk about Palestinian prisoners, we are actually talking about hostages.”
Al-Aboudi noted that since the Israeli occupation of Gaza began in October 2023, about 20% of the Palestinian population has been detained or arrested by Israel over the years.
He claimed that the majority of them are detained on military orders issued by a foreign military occupation and without any due process or prosecution.
Rafah crossing is still closed.
Despite Israel’s “repeated violations,” a Hamas delegation said in a statement to Turkish officials in Qatar on Tuesday that the Palestinian organization is still committed to the ceasefire agreement.
The Hamas officials claimed in a statement that Israel is putting off the implementation of the ceasefire by closing the Rafah crossing to facilitate the movement of sick and injured people and impedes the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The Hamas delegation’s leader, Mujahid Muhammad Darwish, also emphasized “the inalienable rights of our people to self-determination and their right to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
In Cairo’s Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month, Turkiye was one of the signatories to US President Donald Trump’s document on the ceasefire agreement with Gaza.
Since May 7, 2024, the Rafah crossing has been closed because of Israeli forces’ invasion of the southern Gaza Strip’s city, where close to one million people were sheltered at the time.
The crossing, which connects Egypt and the Palestinian territory, is one of two “arteries” for humanitarian access, according to the UN.
Following an urgent submission from South Africa, the UN’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ordered Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing on May 24, 2024. However, the crossing has remained closed and has only been accessible through the adjacent Karem Abu Salem crossing.
After a temporary ceasefire that also allowed for medical evacuations on January 19, 2025, before Israel issued new forced evacuation orders for Rafah at the end of March, residents of the destroyed city could only return home.
Source: Aljazeera
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