Israel says Hamas hands over '2 coffins of deceased hostages' from Gaza

Audio By Carbonatix

CAIRO (AP) — Israel said Hamas handed over “two coffins of deceased hostages ” from Gaza late Saturday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu increased pressure on the militant group to share the rest more quickly under their ceasefire.

No names were immediately released. The bodies were in Israel and were being taken to the country's National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Israel announced earlier Saturday that Gaza’s sole crossing with the outside world, Rafah, would stay closed “until further notice,” tying it to Hamas’ release of remains. On Thursday it had said the crossing likely would reopen Sunday.

Hamas has now handed over the remains of 12 of the 28 dead hostages in Gaza, a key step in the week-old ceasefire process meant to end two years of war. The militant group says devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas of Gaza have slowed the handover.

The statement by Netanyahu ’s office on the Rafah crossing came shortly after the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said it would reopen Monday for people returning to Gaza. Hamas called Netanyahu’s decision a violation of the ceasefire deal.

The Rafah crossing has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Israel has been returning the bodies of Palestinians with no names, only numbers. Gaza’s Health Ministry posts photos of them online, hoping families will come forward.

”Just like they took their captives, we want our captives. Bring me my son, bring all our kids back,” said a tearful Iman Sakani, whose son went missing during the war. She was among dozens of anxious families waiting at Nasser hospital.

One woman knelt, crying over a body after identifying it.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel on Saturday returned 15 bodies of Palestinians to Gaza, bringing the total it has returned to 135.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s ruins were being scoured for the dead. Newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Thousands of people are still missing, according to the Red Cross.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. But the ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack on southern Israel that sparked the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel also said the remains of a 10th hostage that Hamas handed over Friday were identified as Eliyahu Margalit. The 76-year-old was abducted from kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 attack. His remains were found after bulldozers plowed areas in the southern city of Khan Younis.

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that he would greenlight a resumption of the war by Israel if Hamas doesn’t return the remains of all dead hostages.

Hamas has said it is committed to the ceasefire deal, but that the retrieval of remains is also hampered by the presence of unexploded ordnance in the territory’s vast ruins.

The U.S. State Department on Sunday said it had credible reports of an imminent planned attack by Hamas against residents of Gaza.

“This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts," it said in a statement. ”The guarantors demand Hamas uphold its obligations under the ceasefire terms.

“Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire” forged by Trump to end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, it added. There were no additional details.

The Israeli organization supporting families of those abducted said it will continue holding weekly rallies in Tel Aviv until all are returned.

“We don’t want to go back to fighting, God forbid, but this whole ordeal must end, and all the hostages must be returned,” said Ifat Calderon, aunt of freed hostage Ofer Calderon.

Hamas has urged mediators to increase the flow of aid into Gaza as closures of crossings and Israeli restrictions on aid groups continue.

“Vast parts of the city are just a wasteland,” U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Saturday while visiting Gaza City, where international food security experts declared famine earlier this year.

U.N. data on Friday showed 339 trucks have been offloaded for distribution in Gaza since the ceasefire began. Under the agreement, about 600 aid trucks per day should be allowed to enter.

COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid in Gaza, reported 950 trucks — including commercial trucks and bilateral deliveries — crossing on Thursday and 716 on Wednesday, the U.N. said.

Israel has said it let in enough food and accused Hamas of stealing much of it, which the U.N. and other aid agencies deny.

Hamas again accused Israel of continuing attacks and violating the ceasefire, asserting that 38 Palestinians had been killed since it began. There was no immediate response from Israel, which still maintains control of about half of Gaza.

On Friday, Gaza’s Civil Defense, first responders operating under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said nine people were killed, including women and children, when their vehicle was hit by Israeli fire in Gaza City. The Civil Defense said the car crossed into an Israeli-controlled area in eastern Gaza.

Israel’s army said it saw a “suspicious vehicle” crossing the so-called yellow line and approaching troops. It said it fired warning shots, but the vehicle continued to approach in a manner that posed an “imminent threat.” The army said it acted in accordance with the ceasefire.

___

Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press journalists Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem contributed.

___

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war