Hamas hands over three more hostage bodies

By Pesha Magid and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas handed over bodies of three hostages on Sunday, even as the Palestinian militant group traded blame with Israel for violations of the tenuous truce that has mostly halted two years of war.

Israeli forces in Gaza received coffins carrying the bodies of three hostages, conveyed through the Red Cross, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said. The remains will be transported to Israel for identification.

The bodies are expected to be those of three of the 11 hostages whose remains Israel is seeking from Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire. Israel has said Hamas has been too slow in delivering them; Hamas says it is working as quickly as possible under difficult conditions.

The issue has been just one of the disputes holding up full implementation of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in place since October 10.

Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed one man in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said its aircraft had struck a militant who was posing a threat to its forces. Al-Ahli Hospital said one man was killed in the airstrike near a vegetable market in the Shejaia suburb of Gaza City.

"There are still Hamas pockets in the areas under our control in Gaza, and we are systematically eliminating them," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Hamas released what it described as a list of violations of the ceasefire by Israel. Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, denied that Hamas fighters had violated the truce by attacking Israeli soldiers.

VIOLENCE NOT COMPLETELY HALTED

The ceasefire has calmed most fighting, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. Israel has withdrawn troops from positions in cities and more aid has been allowed in.

Hamas released all 20 living hostages held in Gaza in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees held by Israel.

Hamas also agreed under the ceasefire to hand over the remains of 28 dead hostages in exchange for the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants killed in the war. Before Sunday it had turned over 17.

Meanwhile, violence has not completely halted. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 236 people in strikes on Gaza since the truce, nearly half of them in a single day last week when Israel retaliated for an attack on its troops. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed and it has targeted scores of fighters.

The ceasefire was mediated by the United States, and both sides have appealed to Washington to halt violations.

The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, met on Saturday with Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir during a visit to the region to discuss Gaza, the Israeli military said. 

Netanyahu said any Israeli action in Gaza is reported to Washington. Hamas said the United States was not doing enough to ensure Israel abides by the ceasefire agreement.

About 200 U.S. troops have set up base in southern Israel to monitor the ceasefire and help make plans for an international force to stabilise the enclave, as foreseen in later phases of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war. 

There has been little sign of progress on the next stages so far, and major obstacles still lie ahead, including the disarmament of Hamas and a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

(Reporting by Pesha Magid and Nidal Al Mughrabi; Writing by Maayan Lubell and Pesha Magid; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Peter Graff)