Jerusalem, Oct 17 (UNI) Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told a memorial for victims of the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 that he is “determined” to secure the return of the dead hostages still in Gaza, and that the country will continue to fight terrorism with “full force”.
Benjamin Netanyahu made the comments hours after Hamas returned the bodies of two more hostages but said it was not able to access the remaining 19.
There has been fury in Israel that Hamas has not returned all the bodies in line with last week’s Gaza ceasefire deal, though the US has downplayed the suggestion it amounts to a breach, reports BBC.
Also on Thursday, Donald Trump signalled he was willing to see fighting resume if Hamas “continues to kill people”.
Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli government confirmed that two bodies handed over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday night had been identified as Inbar Hayman and Sgt Maj Muhammad al-Atarash.
With this, the number of dead hostages returned since Monday has risen to nine out of 28.
Meanwhile in Gaza, work is under way to identify the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel in recent days in exchange for the hostages’ bodies. A further 30 were returned on Thursday, taking the total to 120.
