Tel Aviv [Israel], October 19: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the condition that Hamas must disarm to end the war in the Gaza Strip, something Hamas has yet to publicly accept.
AFP news agency on October 19 quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that the war in the Gaza Strip will not end until Hamas is disarmed and the territory is demilitarized.
Netanyahu's statement came as Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, handed over the bodies of two more hostages on the night of October 18, under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said a Red Cross team had received the bodies of two hostages from Hamas and handed them over to Israeli forces in Gaza, after which the bodies would be returned to Israel for identification.
The issue of hostage bodies still in Gaza has become a sticking point in implementing the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Mr Netanyahu warned that completing the second phase of the ceasefire deal was essential to ending the fighting, which includes the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza.
"Once that is done successfully, hopefully in an easy way, but if not then in a difficult way, then the war will be over," he told Channel 14.
Hamas has so far rejected the proposal and since the pause in fighting has moved to reassert control in Gaza.
According to The Times of Israel , citing a statement from the US State Department, the US side informed the intermediary countries Qatar, Turkey and Egypt about "credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza".
"This targeted attack on Palestinian civilians would constitute a serious and direct violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress made through mediation efforts," the US State Department said.
The statement did not detail the nature of the Hamas attack, but it came after more than a week of reports that Hamas members had executed dozens of people from rival clans, along with several other Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel.
In another development, Al Jazeera reported on October 18 that Israeli forces killed 11 members of a Palestinian family in Gaza, the deadliest incident since the ceasefire took effect on October 10.
According to the Gaza Civil Defense Force, the attack occurred on the evening of October 17, when an Israeli army tank shell hit a civilian vehicle carrying Mr. Abu Shaaban's family in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
In that attack, Israeli soldiers opened fire on people who crossed the so-called "yellow line", the boundary behind which, under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Israeli troops must withdraw.
Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza , said many Palestinians do not have internet access and are unaware of the current location of Israeli forces along the so-called "demarcation lines", putting families at risk.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the "yellow lines" in Gaza would soon be clearly marked to avoid confusion.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
