Tel Aviv [Israel], October 28 (ANI/TPS): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene the security cabinet on Tuesday following what Israeli officials describe as fresh violations by Hamas of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire. The meeting comes after new remains handed over overnight appeared to belong to a hostage whose body had already been returned.
If confirmed, it would mark roughly a week since Hamas last transferred a previously unrecovered body. Israeli officials say the group is failing to comply with the ceasefire's retrieval and handover terms. Reports indicate Israel is considering moving the Yellow Line to place more Gaza territory under its control. Netanyahu was in court this morning for a hearing in his corruption trial in Tel Aviv but is expected to chair the emergency session.
Far-right ministers used the new developments to press for immediate, decisive action for the return of the final 13 bodies.
"The fact that Hamas continues to play games and does not immediately transfer all the bodies of our fallen is, in itself, evidence that the terror organization is still standing," National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said. He added, "Now we don't need to 'extract a price from Hamas' for the violations. We need to exact from it its very existence and destroy it completely, once and for all -- in accordance with the central goal defined for the War of Revival. Mr. Prime Minister, enough hesitation. Give the order!"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote to Netanyahu demanding an urgent security-cabinet meeting to plot "forceful and determined responses" and to "ensure our adherence to the central objective of the war: the destruction of Hamas and the removal of the threat emanating from Gaza toward the citizens of Israel." He added, "Hamas cannot be allowed to taunt the citizens of Israel and cruelly play with the feelings of the families of the fallen hostages."
Israeli forensic authorities said the remains handed over on Monday night did not match any of the 13 hostages still listed as deceased and missing. The Health Ministry's National Forensic Institute reported no match with the remaining cases after the package was transferred into Israel by the Red Cross for identification. The remains may possibly belong to a previously returned hostage, but officials did not elaborate.
Hamas has blamed war rubble for complicating recovery efforts, but Israeli officials say the group knows the locations of the majority of the bodies and is withholding them. US President Donald Trump had set a deadline that expired as the overnight transfer occurred.
Separately, reservists quoted in Israeli media and a Knesset member who wrote to military leadership said the Israel Defense Forces recorded Hamas operatives staging the discovery of a body in northern Gaza. An IDF drone reportedly filmed Hamas operatives in the Darj-Tufah area of Gaza City removing a kidnapped victim from an apartment, burying her in a hole dug by a tractor, and then summoning the Red Cross. Sukkot's letter called the sequence "a blatant violation of the agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization, false propaganda and damage to public consciousness in Israel and around the world."
The IDF has not publicly released the footage.
In response to claims that bodies are inaccessible, Egypt moved four pieces of heavy engineering equipment into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing overnight to assist in recovery operations. Qatari media reported that Red Cross vehicles also entered the Rafah area to take part in search efforts.
Around 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. (ANI/TPS)