Israel said on Saturday that three bodies it received from Gaza the night before were not hostages held in the Palestinian territory, as a Hamas security source reported fresh strikes in the south.
Despite occasional flare-ups, a fragile truce has been holding in Gaza since October 10, based on a US-brokered deal centred on the return of all Israeli hostages, both living and dead.
Israel鈥檚 military told AFP that a forensic analysis revealed that three bodies it received via the Red Cross on Friday were not those of any of the deceased captives still to be handed over as part of the ceasefire deal.
Hamas鈥檚 armed wing said Saturday that it had handed over bodies it had not positively identified, alleging Israel had declined its offer to provide samples for testing and 鈥榙emanded the bodies for examination鈥�.
鈥榃e handed them over to preempt any enemy claims,鈥� the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said.
Meanwhile, Jordan and Germany said that an international force expected to support a future Palestinian police in Gaza under US president Donald Trump鈥檚 post-war governance plan should have a UN mandate.
鈥榃e all agree that in order for that stabilisation force to be able to be effective in getting the job done, it has to have a Security Council mandate,鈥� Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi said.
Jordan, however, will not be sending its own forces to the Strip.
Safadi was speaking at the IISS Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, who also supported a UN mandate for the force, saying it would 鈥榥eed a clear basis in international law鈥�.
鈥榃e understand that this is of utmost importance to those countries who might be willing to send troops to Gaza and for the Palestinians. Germany would also want to see a clear mandate for this mission,鈥� Wadephul said.
After the start of the truce, Hamas returned the 20 surviving hostages still in its custody and began the process of returning the remains of the dead.
Of the 17 bodies returned since the start of the ceasefire, 15 were Israelis, one was Thai and one was Nepalese.
Hamas has also returned another unidentified body that had not been listed among the 28 missing, as well as the partial remains of a deceased Israeli hostage who had already been recovered early in the war.
In its statement Saturday, the Al-Qassam Brigades called on mediators and the Red Cross to provide the 鈥榥ecessary equipment and personnel to work on recovering all the bodies simultaneously鈥�.
Hamas and Israel, meanwhile, have traded accusations of breaking the ceasefire.
A Hamas security source told AFP on Saturday that Israel had carried out several air strikes in the south at dawn, and that 鈥榳arships opened fire toward the shores of Khan Yunis鈥�.
Earlier in the week, the Israeli military launched its deadliest night of bombing since the truce after one of its soldiers was killed in south Gaza, with the territory鈥檚 civil defence agency reporting more than 100 people killed.
Hamas denied it had anything to do with the attack, and Israel later said it had begun 鈥榬enewed enforcement of the ceasefire鈥�.
The implementation of the later stages of Trump鈥檚 ceasefire plan has yet to be agreed, particularly as it concerns disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority and deploying an international stabilisation force.
The force is expected to be drawn from a coalition of mainly Arab and Muslim nations, and would train and support vetted Palestinian police with backing from Egypt and Jordan as well as secure border areas and prevent weapons smuggling.
The idea of the stabilisation force has drawn some criticism, with UN experts last month warning it would 鈥榬eplace Israeli occupation with a US-led occupation, contrary to Palestinian self-determination鈥�.
The UN has mandated international peacekeeping forces in the region for decades, including UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, which is currently working with the Lebanese army to enforce a November 2024 ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.