The number of bodies received by Tel Aviv has risen to 13. Netanyahu's office said in a statement: "Two coffins of detainees were handed over to the army and Shin Bet security forces inside the Gaza Strip via the Red Cross," adding that "the bodies will be transferred to the Ministry of Health's forensic center in Tel Aviv, and the families will be officially notified after the identification process is completed."
Earlier on Saturday, Channel 12 reported that the Red Cross had received the bodies of two Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza. The channel later reported that the army and the Shin Bet security service had also received the bodies. This came after the Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, announced that it intended to hand over the bodies after they were exhumed on Saturday.
Hamas has thus released 20 live Israeli prisoners since last Monday, along with the bodies of 13 of the 28. Hamas said it seeks to "close the file" and requires time, advanced equipment, and heavy machinery to retrieve the remaining bodies. Israel, meanwhile, says the remaining number is 16, claiming on Wednesday that one of the bodies received did not match any of its prisoners.
Additional penalties
Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported on Saturday that the government is considering imposing additional sanctions on the Gaza Strip if it fails to continue handing over the bodies of the slain detainees. This came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the Rafah border crossing, which Tel Aviv has controlled on the Palestinian side since May 2024, would not be opened until further notice.
The official Kan channel quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu is considering redeploying army forces inside the Gaza Strip and moving their withdrawal lines if Hamas does not hand over the bodies by the specified date.
On October 10, the Israeli occupation army partially withdrew to areas within the Gaza Strip known as the "Yellow Line," coinciding with the ceasefire agreement's entry into force. However, its forces remained deployed across approximately 50 percent of the Strip's area.
The "yellow line" is the first withdrawal line stipulated in US President Donald Trump's plan for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
The channel added that the Prime Minister's Office's statement emphasized that opening the Rafah crossing will be discussed solely based on how Hamas fulfills its obligations to return the bodies of the detainees and implement the terms of the agreed-upon agreement.
disarmament
In an interview with Channel 14 on Saturday evening, Netanyahu said his war on Gaza would continue until the "full implementation" of the ceasefire agreement and the transformation of the Strip into a "demilitarized zone."
Netanyahu continued: "The war is not over yet. Several things must happen, and it will continue until the agreement is fully implemented, Hamas is disarmed, and the Gaza Strip is transformed into a demilitarized zone," he said.
As part of the prisoner exchange deal, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, in addition to 1,718 prisoners it had arrested in the Gaza Strip after October 8, 2023. It also released approximately 135 Palestinian bodies.
More than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, remain languishing in Israeli prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect that has killed many of them, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
The aforementioned agreement was reached on October 9, bringing to an end Israel's two-year-long war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, with American support. The war resulted in the deaths of 68,116 Palestinians, the injury of 170,200 others, and the destruction of 90 percent of the Strip's infrastructure.
