Netanyahu: Returned Remains a 'Clear Violation' of Ceasefire

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the remains of a hostage returned by Hamas overnight are body parts of another hostage who was recovered in Gaza by Israeli troops almost two years ago—an announcement that threatened to rattle the tenuous US-brokered ceasefire. Under the truce, Hamas is expected to return all Israeli hostage remains as soon as possible. Netanyahu called the return of body parts a "clear violation" of the ceasefire, per the AP. He said he'll convene top security officials for an emergency discussion on Tuesday afternoon to weigh Israel's response.

Israeli media said Netanyahu's likely options include halting the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, expanding Israeli control of Gaza, or carrying out airstrikes targeting Hamas leaders. There are still 13 bodies of hostages in Gaza, and the slow recovery of those remains is posing a challenge to implementing the next stages of the ceasefire. Hamas has said it's struggling to locate the bodies amid the vast destruction in Gaza, while Israel has accused the militant group of purposely delaying their return. During the two years of the Israel-Hamas war in the coastal territory, the Israeli military recovered the bodies of some 51 hostages.

The remains returned overnight have been identified as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, Netanyahu's office said. Tzarfati was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack; he was killed in captivity and his body was retrieved by Israeli troops in November 2023. In March 2024, his family received additional remains for burial.

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Tzarfati's family said in a statement that this is the third time "we have been forced to open Ofir's grave and rebury our son." "Since then, we have lived with a wound that constantly reopens, between memory and longing, between bereavement and mission," the statement added, describing the return of body parts as an "abhorrent manipulation." Meanwhile, the ceasefire in Gaza has been holding since it began Oct. 10. In exchange for the returned dead hostages, Israel has so far handed back to Gaza 195 Palestinian bodies, fewer than half of which have been identified. More here.