Israel on Tuesday restricted aid into Gaza and kept the enclave’s border closed, while re-emergent Hamas fighters enforced control with public executions, darkening prospects for U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.
A U.N. note seen by Reuters and confirmed by the world body said Israel would allow 300 aid trucks from Wednesday — around half the daily target — and no fuel or gas except for limited humanitarian infrastructure needs. Three Israeli officials earlier said the decision, and a delay to opening Gaza’s southern crossing with Egypt, followed what Israel viewed as slow progress by Hamas in handing over the bodies of dead hostages. Hamas has said locating remains is difficult.
Trump said “Phase Two” of the ceasefire now begins, but criticised delays in returning the deceased. “THE DEAD HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED, AS PROMISED! Phase Two begins right NOW!!!” he posted on Truth Social.
Hamas has moved quickly to reassert its presence after Israel’s partial troop pullback last week. Video filmed Monday showed fighters dragging seven bound men into a Gaza City square and shooting them at close range as onlookers watched. A Hamas source confirmed the footage and participation of its fighters; Reuters verified the location.
Delays in handing over bodies have become a fresh sticking point. On Monday Trump hailed a “historic dawn of a new Middle East” as Israel and Hamas exchanged the last 20 living Israeli hostages for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, but Hamas has so far turned over only four coffins, with at least 23 more presumed dead and one unaccounted for still in Gaza. Mediators were told a further four bodies would begin transferring from 1900 GMT Tuesday.
Aid flows remain below expected levels, and plans to open the crossing to Egypt to evacuate some wounded Gazans have yet to take effect. The visible return of Hamas to policing streets underscores the challenge of progressing from the initial truce to a durable settlement that would prevent renewed fighting.
Gaza residents reported more Hamas patrols on Tuesday, including along routes for aid convoys. Palestinian security sources said dozens have been killed in recent days in clashes between Hamas and rivals. Gaza health officials said Israeli drone fire killed five people east of Gaza City, while an airstrike near Khan Younis killed one and wounded another. Hamas accused Israel of truce breaches; the Israeli military said it fired on people who crossed ceasefire lines and approached its forces after warnings.
A summit co-hosted by Trump in Egypt on Monday ended without public steps toward an international force for Gaza or a new governing authority. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war cannot end until Hamas disarms and relinquishes control — a demand Hamas rejects.
Hamas sources said the group would no longer tolerate disorder and would target collaborators, armed looters and drug dealers. Though weakened by two years of bombardment and ground incursions, Hamas has deployed workers to clear rubble on key routes and repair water pipes to facilitate larger aid deliveries.
The ceasefire halted two years of war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and abducted 251 to Gaza, according to Israeli figures. Gaza health authorities say nearly 68,000 people have been killed in Israel’s campaign; thousands more are feared under rubble. Large areas of the enclave lie in ruins, and famine was declared by a global hunger monitor in August. Thousands of residents have begun returning to shattered neighbourhoods since the truce took hold.