Israel’s prime minister has told a memorial for victims of the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 that he is “determined” to secure the return of the dead hostages still inside Gaza, and that the country will continue to fight terrorism with “full force”.
Benjamin Netanyahu made the comments hours after Hamas returned the bodies of another two hostages but said it was not able to access the remaining 19.
There has been fury in Israel that Hamas has not yet returned all the bodies in line with last week’s Gaza ceasefire deal, though the US has downplayed the suggestion that it amounts to a breach.
Israel has responded to the delay by threatening to restrict the amount of aid flowing into Gaza.
Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli government confirmed that two bodies handed over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday night had been identified as Inbar Hayman and Sgt Maj Muhammad al-Atarash.
Their return, which was overseen by masked Hamas gunmen in Gaza City, took the number of dead hostages returned since Monday to nine out of 28.
All 20 living hostages were released on Monday, in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
Hamas’s military wing said on Wednesday that it would continue to search for the remaining bodies, but that it would require major efforts and specialist equipment.
On Thursday, Netanyahu addressed an official memorial ceremony at the Mount Herzl national cemetery in Jerusalem, two days after the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the 7 October attack.
The prime minister said he remained committed to securing the return of all the dead Israeli and foreign hostages, and reiterated his government’s willingness to return to military action if Israel was attacked again.
He said: “Our fight against terrorism will continue with full force. We will not allow evil to raise its head. We will exact the full price from anyone who harms us.”
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.
At least 67,967 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel said Netanyahu’s government should “immediately halt the implementation” of the ceasefire deal until the 19 bodies were returned.
After Hamas said it was unable to retrieve all the bodies, two senior advisers to US President Donald Trump said preparations to move to the next phase of the ceasefire deal were continuing.
The advisers told reporters that the US government did not so far believe Hamas had broken the agreement by not retrieving more remains, and said the group had acted in good faith by sharing information with interlocutors.
While the full text of the agreement between Israel and Hamas has not been made public, a leaked version which appeared in Israeli media appeared to allow for the possibility that not all of the bodies would be immediately accessible.
One senior US adviser pointed to the level of destruction in Gaza as one reason the search might be slowed, and said rewards could be offered to civilians with information about the location of remains.
Hamas has complained to mediators that more than 20 people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on Friday.
Israel’s military, which still controls more than half the territory, has said that it opens fire to remove threats to its troops.
Meanwhile in Gaza, work is under way to identify the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel in recent days in exchange for the hostages’ bodies. A further 30 were returned on Thursday, taking the total to 120.
There had been some reports that the Rafah crossing with Egypt would reopen on Thursday, having been shut since the Gaza side was seized by Israeli forces in May 2024.
The ceasefire deal specifies its reopening would be “subject to the same mechanism implemented” during a temporary ceasefire earlier this year, when wounded Palestinians were briefly allowed to pass through to receive medical treatment.
On Thursday, an official from Israeli military body Cogat said: “The date for the opening of the Rafah crossing for the movement of people only will be announced at a later stage, once the Israeli side, together with the Egyptian side, completes the necessary preparations.”
The official also stressed that “aid will not pass through the Rafah crossing”. Instead, they said, it would continue to enter Gaza through the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel and other crossings following Israeli security inspections.
