US envoy wars of ‘annihilation’ after Hamas accused of returning wrong body
Adam Boehler, President Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs, has labelled the alleged decision by Hamas to release an unidentified body in place of Shiri Bibas “horrific” and a “clear violation” of the ceasefire.
“If I were them, I’d release everybody or they are going to face total annihilation,” he told CNN.
Israeli finance minister calls for return to war in Gaza
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has demanded an immediate return to fighting in Gaza and the occupied West Bank after three empty buses exploded in a parking depot near Tel Aviv.
In a post on social media, the ultra-nationalist politician and leader of the Religious Zionist Party alleged the captive exchange that had taken place under the Gaza ceasefire deal had resulted in a “mass release of terrorists”.
The ceasefire has been “interpreted by our enemies as weakness”, he wrote.
“Our response must be an immediate return to fighting and systematically crushing terrorism until it is destroyed, in Gaza and Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, referring to the occupied West Bank.
“We will make sure that this will be the case,” he said.
Netanyahu says Hamas will pay price for ‘evil violation’ of ceasefire deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the Palestinian movement after the Israeli military said one of the bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any of the captives held in Gaza, accusing it of violating the ceasefire.
“The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds,” he said in a video statement.
Netanyahu added that his government will “ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement”.
The PM promised that he would work to bring home “all our hostages – both living and dead”.
Israel’s Smotrich says destruction of Hamas ‘must not be delayed’
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says his country should not remain silent over the “severe violation” carried out by the Palestinian group.
The statement came after Israel claimed that one of the four bodies handed over by Hamas yesterday was an unidentified woman and not a captive’s body as pledged by the group.
“The severe violation by Hamas and the ongoing abuse cannot be faced with silence. And neither can the certain knowledge that they brutally murdered the young Ariel and Kfir in captivity,” he added, referring to two children whose bodies were returned yesterday.
The body that Israel claims to be unidentified was supposed to be their mother – Shiri Bibas.
Smotrich said: “The only solution is the destruction of Hamas and it must not be delayed.”
Germany’s Scholz calls on Hamas to ‘return’ captive Shiri Bibas
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged Hamas to “return” Israeli captive Shiri Bibas after Israel said a body handed over by the Palestinian group was not hers.
The Bibas family “continue to worry about Shiri”, Scholz said in a post on social media platform X. “She too must return, Hamas must release her.”
