Israel halts Rafah reopening, limits aid as Hamas fails to return all bodies: official

JERUSALEM/GAZA -- Israel decided on Tuesday to halt the reopening of the Rafah crossing and further reduce humanitarian aid to Gaza, as both sides traded accusations of violating the fragile ceasefire.

The crossing, a key route for aid from Egypt to Gaza, had been scheduled to reopen today.

An Israeli government official, speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, said the Rafah crossing will remain closed and the entry of humanitarian aid will be "drastically" limited until Hamas returns all the bodies of the deceased hostages.

The official described the measures as "sanctions against Hamas" following the group's handover of four bodies on Monday, with 24 remaining in Gaza.

There has been no official announcement of the restrictions from the Prime Minister's office or the security establishment.

London-based Al Araby TV reported that Egyptian teams have begun working in the Gaza Strip to help locate and recover the bodies of Israeli hostages. According to the report, an Israeli technical team is holding consultations with Egyptian officials to coordinate the recovery of the remains of the Israeli captives.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Xinhua that the technical and logistical challenges resulting from the massive destruction pose serious obstacles to the identification and recovery of the bodies. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stated that the teams may not be able to find some bodies.

Israel was angered by the limited handover of four bodies, noting that under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas was required to return all 28 bodies held in Gaza by Monday. However, the group informed the mediators that it was facing difficulties locating the burial sites of all of the bodies.

The return of the bodies came after the transfer of the last 20 surviving hostages from Gaza to Israel and the release of about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, marking a key phase in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

The two sides have traded accusations of violating the ceasefire, now in its fifth day, over Hamas's failure to hand over all the missing bodies and Israeli fire that killed at least six people in Gaza on Tuesday.