Remains returned by Hamas belong to captive Ofir Tzarfati: Israeli media

Israeli forensic analysts have determined that the latest remains handed over by Hamas are those of Ofir Tzarfati, who was taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 and whose partial remains were recovered in November of the same year.

Tzarfati’s family said the incident has retraumatised them. “We went to sleep tonight expecting and hoping that another family would close a two-year torturous circle and have their loved one returned for burial,” the family said in a statement cited by The Times of Israel. “But once again, there was a deception at the expense of our family as we try to recover.”

Hamas has yet to issue a formal statement about the latest dispute over the captive’s remains, but a source from the group, speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic, accused Israel of deliberately complicating their search process and “fabricating lies”.

Dispute over captive transfer being turned into ‘political theatre’

Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg believes it is unlikely the dispute over the latest captive remains transferred to Israel by Hamas would derail the entire ceasefire, which the US and its regional partners are deeply invested in.

While there have been calls from Israeli far-right leaders Ben-Gvir and Smotrich to “destroy” or severely sanction Hamas over the incident, Netanyahu is ultimately “the only one who makes the decision”, Goldberg told Al Jazeera.

“This is a piece of political theatre, one in which Hamas is participating I suppose,” he said. “You can’t really tell whether Hamas is trying to pull a fast one over Israel or not, but this whole notion that the future, the present of the ceasefire, the assistance millions need so urgently, the chance to end a two-year genocidal campaign – that all of this will simply be thrown out because of a ‘violation’ is ridiculous.

“Obviously, the Americans have Netanyahu’s number. Obviously, he was given his marching orders,” Goldberg added. “The Americans are giving him some leeway because this is politics, but I really doubt you will see the ceasefire collapse, regardless of what Smotrich and his ilk have to say.”

Families of Israeli captives accuse Hamas of ‘dishonouring loved ones’, demand meeting with Netanyahu

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing relatives of Israeli captives, has demanded an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu after he said the latest remains returned by Hamas were those of a captive already recovered two years ago.

In a statement, the group accused Hamas of “cynical manipulation” and “dishonouring our loved ones”. “The Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations,” said the group.

“Returning all hostages is the state’s obligation and a moral imperative – Hamas cannot be given a pass for violating the agreement.”

Netanyahu’s corruption hearing truncated today due to ‘security developments’: Report

A hearing today in Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial will end hours earlier than scheduled on the request of the prime minister, who told judges he must attend to “security developments”, according to The Times of Israel.

The private hearing in Jerusalem, in which Netanyahu is set to give testimony, concerns allegations he attempted to use his position as premier to push legislation favourable to Israeli billionaire Arnon Milchan in return for gifts.

Netanyahu’s delay tactics in court an ‘expected tradition’

It’s become somewhat of an expected tradition almost in these trials. Every time the Israeli prime minister enters a courtroom, he either says he is sick, or he is handed an envelope and then says he has urgent security matters to attend.

In this case, he asked for a closed-door meeting because of emergent security developments that he couldn’t discuss in public, and he asked to expedite the hearing so that it would conclude quite quickly and that he could hold security consultations.

Those requests, of course, were granted. The courts and the judges are known to be accommodating when such requests are made.

The rise of global boycotts against Israel’s genocide in Gaza

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/28/the-rise-of-global-boycotts-against-israels-genocide-in-gaza

Hamas says it will return body of Israeli captive this evening

A statement on Telegram says the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, will hand over the body at 8pm local time (18:00 GMT).

The remains of the Israeli captive were discovered a short time ago in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip, it added.

Israel is expecting the return of 13 more bodies of captives still held in the war-battered territory as part of the US-brokered ceasefire. Hamas has already handed over 20 living abductees as part of the agreement.

Search for deceased captives continues in Khan Younis


_{Men in Hamas uniforms are seen among people at a tunnel in Khan Younis}

France resumes Gaza evacuations: Report

France has restarted evacuating sick and wounded Palestinians out of Gaza, with 20 people arriving last weekend, a news report says.

The move comes after France in August froze its programme to receive Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza after a student accused of sharing anti-Jewish posts on social media was allowed into the country.

Twenty people arrived in France on Sunday, fewer than expected because of the operation’s complexity, unnamed “diplomatic sources” told AFP news agency. It’s unclear how many people from Gaza are expected going forward.

France has helped more than 500 people leave Gaza since Israel’s war began in October 2023, including wounded children, journalists, and students.

Hamas says Israel hindering efforts to recover captives

Hamas has accused Israel of obstructing efforts to recover the bodies of deceased Israeli captives, saying it blocked heavy machinery from entering Gaza and prevented search teams – including Red Cross personnel – from accessing key areas.

In a statement, Hamas dismissed Israel’s allegations that it has been “slow” to release the captives’ bodies as a “baseless” attempt “to mislead public opinion”.

The group also accused Israel of trying “to fabricate false pretexts as a prelude to taking new aggressive steps against our people in blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.

“In light of this, we call on the mediators and guarantor parties to shoulder their responsibilities in confronting these serious obstructions,” said Hamas.

The statement follows Israeli government claims that Hamas is deliberately dragging its feet in releasing the remains of captives – with the latest return found to belong to a captive whose body was recovered two years ago.

Israel accuses Hamas of ‘staging’ body retrievals

Israel has accused of Hamas of “staging” the return of bodies and “reburying remains” as both sides ramp up allegations of Gaza ceasefire violations.

“Hamas lies. They know where the remaining hostages are. Staged excavations are not only abusive – these violations endanger the ceasefire. Drone footage shows Hamas moving & reburying body remains – then staging a false discovery for the Red Cross to witness,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu said human remains handed over by Hamas overnight belonged to a captive whose body had already been recovered by Israeli forces. He convened his defence chiefs to decide on “Israel’s next steps” in response.

What motive would Hamas have to delay or play games ??? These accusations do not make any sense.

And how does a body get doubled?

https://www.timesofisrael.com/troops-recover-body-of-ofir-tzarfati-in-gaza-returning-him-to-israel-for-burial/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ofir-tzarfati-27-a-pure-soul-who-helped-girlfriend-escape-rave/

Did the IDF leave body parts behind when they recovered the body late November 2023? 
Did the IDF make a mistake the first time, or the second time?

The only sure thing is that Hamas is desperate for the peace plan to hold for their survival and that of the Gaza strip.
And Netanyahu is desperate for the ceasefire to fall apart for his own political survival.

Heavy gunfire and explosions reported in Gaza’s south

There are reports of gunfire in Rafah in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt.

It’s not really clear what’s happening, but in the past 30 minutes, we’ve received information of an exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and fighters from the Gaza Strip.

Then, artillery shelling started and explosions were heard in Rafah and the eastern part of Khan Younis city. We also have reports that one Israeli soldier was injured.

Palestinians here are frustrated that this could lead to an intensification of fighting during the fragile ceasefire – more Israeli air strikes, more bombardment. People are very frightened that this will be the end of the ceasefire.

Israel’s PM Netanyahu orders immediate ‘powerful strikes’ on Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to carry out intense strikes on the Gaza Strip after accusing Hamas of violating the US-brokered ceasefire.

“Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military to immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” a statement from his office said.

Latest fighting in south Gaza underscores ceasefire’s fragility

In a sign of the fragility of the ceasefire, Israeli troops were shot at in the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and returned fire, an unnamed Israeli military official told The Associated Press.

As Prime Minister Netanyahu and security officials weigh a possible response to alleged truce violations, Israeli media reported options could include halting the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, expanding Israeli control of the Palestinian territory, or carrying out air strikes targeting Hamas leaders.

There are still 13 bodies of captives in Gaza. Hamas said earlier it recovered the remains of an abductee that it plans to hand over this evening.

An AP videographer in Khan Younis witnessed what appeared to be a white body bag being carried out from a tunnel by several men, including some masked fighters, and then transported into an ambulance.

Gaza people terrified after Israel threat to bomb the enclave

Palestinians have heard the news of Israel’s plan to launch “powerful strikes” on Gaza in the past few minutes. They do not know when these series of air strikes will start or who will be targeted. We’ve heard loud drones patrolling the sky, but the attack hasn’t begun yet.

People knew this ceasefire was going to be fragile and have been scared since an incident took place earlier with gunfire and explosions in southern Rafah. This is not the first time a violent incident has occurred and Israel launches attacks.

Palestinians don’t want to go through this again. They’ve lived two years of relentless bombardment losing everything they have – family members. And now this is happening after a three-week ceasefire.

Qassam Brigades postpones handing over captive’s body due to Israeli ‘violations’

Hamas’s military wing has announced that it will postpone the handover of the Israeli captive’s body that it found earlier today “due to violations” by Israel.

In a statement, Qassam Brigades stressed that any Israeli escalation “will hinder search, digging, and retrieval operations of the bodies, which will lead to a delay in recovering the bodies” of the dead captives.

US official tells Al Jazeera Gaza truce ‘still holding’

A US official tells Al Jazeera the ceasefire is still holding despite Israeli threats to attack Gaza after alleging ceasefire violations. President Trump’s peace plan faces many challenges, but the administration believes it will still come to fruition, the official says.

“The ceasefire agreement is still holding in Gaza, and we continue to work to implement President Trump’s peace plan,” said the US official on condition of anonymity. “Transition to permanent peace in Gaza is a difficult task after two years of conflict in the Strip.”

One of Israel’s main complaints is the amount of time it is taking for Hamas to return the bodies of captives taken to Gaza.

“Locating the bodies of Israeli hostages in Gaza is difficult, challenging, and time-consuming. The Civilian-Military Coordination Center played a vital role in bringing Egyptian technical teams into Gaza to retrieve the bodies,” the official said.

“The peace plan for Gaza will face challenges, and the US government is making strenuous efforts to make progress. We will not be satisfied until stability is achieved in Gaza and a transition to civilian rule is achieved and tangible progress is made toward peace.”

‘Netanyahu knows Trump’s attention span is very short’

Analyst Muhammad Shehada says Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to “collapse the agreement” in the hope that President Trump will lose patience with the peace process and give Israel a green light to resume the war.

“Israel, and Netanyahu in particular, has inserted a number of loopholes in the ceasefire agreement that would ensure his ability to collapse it or to violate it,” Shehada told Al Jazeera.

He noted Israel’s prime minister has used challenges in locating the bodies of Israeli captives under mounds of rubble to allege Hamas is not upholding its pledge to return the dead.

“Netanyahu knows that Trump’s attention span is very short, and his hope is that Trump will be distracted by the next big topic and move on from Gaza and give him a free hand again. It’s just a manoeuvre to buy time.”

Trump will keep pushing the peace plan until he gets his Abraham accords signed and access to the IMEC project and other deals with the gulf states.

https://www.agbi.com/trade/2025/08/imec-trade-corridor-gets-trump-administration-buy-in/

The genocide got in the way
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3325366/end-imec-us-backed-answer-chinas-belt-and-road-falters-amid-mideast-strife

Trump has made plenty other deals as well that rely on 'peace' in the ME:
https://rohanvenkat.substack.com/p/where-was-imec-amid-trumps-big-gulf

(with claims of $2 trillion in agreements with Gulf nations, even if those numbers may not stand up to scrutiny), diplomatically (including the remarkable decision to lift sanctions on Syria, and continue negotiations with Iran) and personally (with the Trump family involved in everything from towers and golf courses to crypto ventures in the region).



But he allows Israel to break the ceasefire anyway, only stops Netanyahu from flat out resuming the genocide.

Ceasefire hasn’t stopped Israel’s deadly assault on Gaza: UN expert

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, says Israel continues to kill, starve, maim, and displace the people of Gaza despite the three-week-old truce.

“The ceasefire declared on October 11 did not stop the assault on Gaza,” Albanese told Al Jazeera from Cape Town in South Africa. Israel has committed at least 125 violations of the truce, killed nearly 100, and wounded about 350 Palestinians since the US-brokered ceasefire took effect, she noted.

“Any person with an inch of common sense has been saying … is this possible that in the middle of a genocide we cheer for this proposal that does not take into account any human rights, international law?” Albanese said of Trump’s Gaza “peace plan”.

Israeli aircraft launch series of strikes on Gaza City: Reports

Israel’s military has launched a series of air strikes on Gaza City after threatening a “powerful” attack.

A statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office earlier said he ordered the attack but did not specify the reason. Al Jazeera reported a spate of gunfire and explosions from Rafah city and later Khan Younis.

Witnesses report ‘massive’ explosion near Gaza City hospital

Israel’s military has struck multiple site across Gaza City. One missile fell behind the al-Shifa Hospital near one of the main buildings that was renovated and put back into service.

The attack caused a state of mayhem and panic among patients and medical staff inside the hospital. Eyewitness described the strike as massive. We are in an area about 20 minutes away, and we could hear it from here.

For the past 30 minutes, there has been major activity in the air over Gaza’s skies, with drones hovering above.

This attack follows the order from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier to strike the Gaza Strip.

Hamas says it’s committed to truce deal as Israel attacks

Suhail al-Hindi, a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza, says the group faces “significant difficulties” during the recovery of the bodies of the Israeli captives and reiterated demands for heavy equipment to assist the process.

“Israel must realise we are committed to the agreement, and they must stop falsely accusing us of violating it,” he told Al Jazeera, adding Hamas asked for the entry of search teams into the “red zones” to locate the bodies, which was refused.

“The resistance has no interest in concealing or delaying the delivery of any prisoner’s body, and we affirm our full commitment to the agreement,” al-Hindi said, referring to the ceasefire that entered into force in early October.

“We have made every effort possible to recover the bodies, and the occupation bears full responsibility for any delay in recovering the remaining bodies,” he added, calling on mediating nations to step in.

Gaza Civil Defence agency confirms air strikes

The extent of Israel’s bombing campaign remains unclear. Gaza City in central Gaza has been targeted, but it remains unclear if other areas will also be hit.

“The occupation is now bombing Gaza with at least three air strikes despite the ceasefire agreement,” said Palestinian Civil Defence agency spokesman Mahmoud Basal.

Hamas will ‘pay heavy price’ after alleged attack, Israeli minister says

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz says Hamas fighters attacked its troops despite an ongoing ceasefire in Gaza and vowed the group will be targeted.

“Hamas will pay a heavy price for attacking soldiers in Gaza and for violating the agreement to return the bodies of the hostages,” Katz said in a statement released by his office.

He said Hamas’s alleged attack “is a crossing of a bright red line, to which the [military] will respond with great force”.

In the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah, tanks could be heard firing from an area controlled by the Israeli army. Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out intense strikes on Gaza.

Genocide won’t end ‘as long as Israel keeps boots on the ground’

A UN special rapporteur says it is unsurprising that Israel is again attacking Gaza despite the US-brokered ceasefire.

Francesca Albanese blamed UN member states for ignoring Israel’s genocide for the past two years despite efforts by international courts to rein in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s far-right government.

The International Court of Justice has called on Israel to allow aid into Gaza, announced its occupation of the Palestinian territory is unlawful, demanded the removal of troops and the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, she noted.

“These are the red lines, and in the face of these member states are continuing playing this theatre of the absurd,” said Albanese.

“I am ashamed – not even as a lawyer but as a human being – because I know for the Palestinians in Gaza the genocide will not end, and for the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem the violence by soldiers and settlers will not end as long as Israel is allowed to keep its boots on the ground, and control and determine the fate of the Palestinians.”

At least two Palestinians killed in Israel’s Gaza strikes

The Palestinian Civil Defence agency says two people have been confirmed killed and four others wounded in Israeli attacks on a neighourhood south of Gaza City.

An air strike targeted a home in the Sabra neighbourhood inside the “yellow line” from which Israeli forces previously withdrew under the ceasefire deal.

A missile also hit the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. Strikes also occurred around the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza’s main urban centre. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Artillery fire also targeted areas east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.