Aid trucks roll into Gaza as dispute over hostage bodies is paused

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By Steven Scheer and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Aid trucks rolled into Gaza on Wednesday and Israel resumed preparations to open the main Rafah crossing after a dispute over the return of the bodies of dead hostages that had threatened to derail the fragile ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Israel had threatened to keep Rafah shut and reduce aid supplies because Hamas was returning bodies too slowly, showing the risks to a truce that has stopped two years of devastating warfare in Gaza and seen all living hostages held by Hamas freed.

However, the militant group returned more Israeli bodies overnight, and an Israeli security official said preparations were under way to open Rafah to Gazan citizens, while a second official said that 600 aid trucks would go in.

Hamas’ armed wing said it would hand over two more bodies at 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Wednesday.

DISPUTE OVER RETURN OF HOSTAGE BODIES

Hamas returned four bodies confirmed as dead hostages on Monday and another four bodies late on Tuesday, though Israeli authorities said one of those bodies was not that of a hostage.

The dispute over the return of bodies still has the potential to upset the ceasefire deal along with other major issues that are yet to be resolved.

Israel has said that the next phase of the truce calls for Hamas to disarm and cede power, which it has so far refused to do. It has launched a security crackdown, parading its power in Gaza through public executions and clashes with local clans.

Longer-term elements of the ceasefire plan, including how Gaza will be governed, the make-up of an international “stabilization force” and moves towards the creation of a Palestinian state have yet to emerge.

Twenty-one bodies of hostages remain in Gaza, though some may be hard to find or recover because of destruction during the conflict. An international task force is meant to find them.

The deal also requires Israel to return the bodies of 360 Palestinians. The first group of 45 was handed over on Tuesday and the bodies were being identified, said Palestinian health authorities.

AID ENTRY AND BORDER CROSSING

The war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with nearly all inhabitants driven from their homes, a global hunger monitor confirming famine and health authorities overwhelmed.

“Our situation is utterly tragic. We went back to our homes in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood and found there are no homes at all. There is no shelter. Nothing,” said Moemen Hassanein in Gaza City, with tents and shanties behind him.

Reuters video showed trucks moving from the Egyptian side of the border into the Rafah crossing with Gaza at dawn on Wednesday, some carrying fuel and others loaded with pallets of aid.

However, it was not clear if that convoy would complete its crossing into Gaza as part of the 600 trucks that were due to enter the enclave on Wednesday – the daily number required under the ceasefire plan. Aid trucks entered Gaza through other crossings.

The Rafah crossing with Egypt is due to be open for people to cross on Thursday with a European Union mission deployed there, two sources said. It was not immediately clear if there would be any restrictions applied on the movement of people.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said it was preparing to operate the crossing.

“Humanitarian aid continues to enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and other crossings after Israeli security inspection,” the Israeli security official said.

The United Nations’ top emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, told Reuters the 600 trucks approved to enter the territory was a “good base”, but not enough to meet the scale of need.

“We have 190,000 metric tons of provisions on the borders waiting to go in and we’re determined to deliver. That’s essential life-saving food and nutrition,” Fletcher said.

Underscoring the political challenges facing the truce, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an opponent of the ceasefire plan, said on X that the aid delivery was a “disgrace”.

“Nazi terrorism understands only force, and the only way to solve problems with it is to wipe it off the face of the earth,” he added, accusing Hamas of lies and abuse over the return of hostages’ bodies.

VIOLENCE IN GAZA

Several other Palestinian factions in Gaza have backed a days-long Hamas security crackdown as it battles local clans.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of the groups backing the Hamas crackdown, described the clans being targeted as “hubs of crime”. Hamas has executed several people that it accused of collaborating with Israel.

The U.S. military’s Middle East command called on Hamas to “suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians” and to disarm “without delay”.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who brokered the ceasefire deal, this week endorsed Hamas’ crackdown on gangs, while warning it would face airstrikes if it did not later disarm.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the public executions after a video, authenticated by Reuters, showed masked gunmen shooting dead seven men in a Gaza street.

Israeli forces inside Gaza have pulled back to what the truce deal calls a yellow line just outside the main cities. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said it would immediately enforce any violation of the line.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv; additional reporting by Tala Ramadan, Jana Choukeir and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai; Writing by Angus McDowall and Alex Richardson; Editing by Ros Russell, Aidan Lewis and Diane Craft)