Hamas said it would transfer to Israel on Tuesday the body of a hostage recovered from a Gaza tunnel, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of violating the ceasefire by handing over the wrong remains.
Netanyahu said tests showed the remains delivered on Monday were those of Ofir Tzarfati, killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and recovered earlier in the war, not one of the 13 hostages still listed as missing. He said Israel would answer the violation, and three officials briefed on a security consultation said options included seizing additional territory inside Gaza.
Hamas rejected the accusation, saying it was adhering to the truce terms and accusing Netanyahu of seeking a pretext to walk back Israel’s obligations. Spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the destruction across Gaza and limited equipment were complicating efforts to locate and retrieve all bodies, but pledged to continue “until this issue is fully concluded.”
Under the ceasefire, Hamas freed all living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, while Israel paused its offensive and pulled back some forces. The agreement also commits Hamas to hand over the remains of dead hostages still unrecovered. Israeli officials say Hamas can access most of those remains; two Israeli security sources said bodies of only three hostages are currently beyond Hamas’s reach.
The Israeli military alleged Hamas operatives staged Monday’s recovery by planting Tzarfati’s remains at an excavation site before summoning a Red Cross team, calling it a bid to create a “false impression” of progress. A 14-minute military video shows three men placing a white bag at a dig site and covering it with earth; Reuters could not verify the footage. Hamas and the Red Cross did not immediately comment.
Heavy machinery brought from Egypt has accelerated searches for bodies in recent days, with bulldozers working in Khan Younis and Nuseirat. Witnesses said Egyptian teams, alongside armed Hamas fighters, were digging near the Qatari-funded Hamad Housing City and opening tunnel shafts. Images reviewed by Reuters showed excavations plunging dozens of metres with fighters at a tunnel mouth apparently searching for remains.
The dispute over bodies has become a key sticking point in the truce that U.S. President Donald Trump said he was monitoring “very closely” over the past 48 hours. Israel’s far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir urged a hard response, though a senior Israeli official said any major move would likely need a green light from Washington.
Across Gaza, rescuers continue to sift through rubble for thousands of Palestinians still missing. Gaza health authorities say 68,000 people have been confirmed killed during Israel’s campaign, with more unaccounted for. The war began after Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Explosions could still be heard on Tuesday as Israeli forces carried out demolitions in areas where they remain deployed; Defence Minister Israel Katz said over the weekend that troops would keep destroying Hamas tunnels, an estimated 60% of which remain intact.