‘Blatant Violation Of The Deal’: Israel Closes Rafah Border Crossing After Hamas Fails To Release All 28 Deceased Hostages

Latest Developments

Rafah Border Crossing Closes: Israel decided to close the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt on October 14 after Hamas released the remains of only four of the 28 slain hostages. Jerusalem will additionally limit the amount of aid delivered to Gaza as part of punitive sanctions against Hamas. U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza called for all 48 living and deceased hostages to be released within 72 hours of the deal’s implementation.
24 Hostage Bodies Still to be Returned: Following the release of all 20 living hostages on October 13, Hamas delivered the remains of Israeli citizens Guy Illouz, Yossi Sharabi, and Daniel Peretz, along with Bipin Joshi, a Nepalese agriculture student. Israel initially accused Hamas of violating its commitments under Trump’s plan, with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warning that, “Any delay or deliberate backsliding will be deemed a blatant violation of the deal and will be answered accordingly.”
‘A Pretty Gruesome Task’: At the Sharm El-Sheikh peace summit on October 13, President Trump said Hamas was still searching for the bodies of the deceased hostages. “It’s a pretty gruesome task … They know the areas and are doing it in conjunction with Israel … they’ll be finding quite a few of them,” Trump stated. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi agreed on the need to complete the recoveries, reportedly dispatching teams to Gaza to assist in locating the deceased hostages to solve the crisis threatening to upend the ceasefire.

FDD Expert Response

“An almost delirious day of celebration and relief in Israel has been darkened by what may constitute Hamas’s first challenge to the ceasefire meant to pave the way to peace. It beggars belief that so few bodies were handed over by a terrorist group that entered the Trump deal under such American and international scrutiny. This breach of Hamas’s commitment cannot be tolerated. Israel is right to stand firm on recovering all those who were abducted — including two American citizens — alive or dead. The question now is whether Israel will have to resort to force, or whether an international forensic mission can move quickly in Gaza to find these bodies.” — Mark Dubowitz, CEO

“It is improbable that Hamas is unaware of the whereabouts of additional deceased hostages. The group’s reluctance to hand over more bodies may be a calculated move to probe the limits of the ceasefire arrangement. Furthermore, Jerusalem should be concerned that Hamas could exploit the remains of the hostages as bargaining chips to extract further concessions from Israel.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst and Editor at FDD’s Long War Journal