Gaza, Oct 18: Hamas moved Friday to shore up its brittle ceasefire agreement with Israel by reaffirming its commitment to the terms of the deal, including a pledge to hand over the remains of all dead Israeli hostages.The militant group’s statement released in the early hours Friday follows a dire warning from US President Donald Trump that he would green-light Israel to resume the war if Hamas doesn’t live up to its end of the deal and return all of the hostages’ bodies.
Hamas, however, maintains that some bodies were buried in tunnels that were later destroyed by Israel, and heavy machinery is required to dig through rubble to retrieve them.
The group also criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his call to cut aid to Gaza, saying it was an attempt to manipulate humanitarian needs “for political gains.” In a follow-up statement on Friday, Hamas urged mediators to increase the flow of aid into Gaza, expedite the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and start the reconstruction process, especially for homes, hospitals and schools. It also called for steps to bring to justice “those who committed war crimes” against Palestinians.
The ceasefire plan introduced by Trump had called for all hostages – living and dead – to be handed over by a deadline that expired Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible.
Netanyahu has said that Israel “will not compromise” and demanded that Hamas fulfil the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal about the return of hostages’ bodies.
International force for Gaza in the pipeline
Meanwhile, France said it’s working with its British and American partners to propose a UN resolution in the coming days that would provide a framework for the international force for Gaza.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux told a news conference Thursday that Arab countries are “very insistent” on having a UN mandate for this force.
This resolution would allow a framework for the deployment of this mission, in support … of Palestinian security forces, who are in the process of evaluating what they will need and what they are capable of doing, he said.
He wouldn’t say whether France could eventually take part or what its role would be. First, the mandate, he said, followed by which countries will be involved, and then specifics about who is providing what, which could include equipment, training, or money.
Confavreux said aid, reconstruction and security efforts should be centralised within the UN system.
Hamas was also put on the defensive after Trump warned that “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them “ if the militant group didn’t cease killings of rival factions inside Gaza.
Trump said it won’t be US forces that will mete out any punishment, but “people very close, very nearby that will go in and they’ll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices.” The president did not specify if he was speaking of Israel, but action by Israeli forces could risk violating the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
A Hamas official on Thursday defended the killings of alleged gang members that the militant group carried out in Gaza since Monday.
Speaking in Beirut, Hamas’ political representative in Lebanon, Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, said the individuals who were killed “caused death and corruption in Gaza and killed displaced persons and aid seekers.” Hadi said the decision to sentence them to death had come from the “judiciary,” apparently referring to tribal customary judicial procedures. There are no functioning formal courts in the war-battered enclave.
“This was done by a Palestinian national and tribal consensus,” he said. “I mean, their clan agreed to this and not just Hamas.”
