Aid trucks roll into Gaza as Hamas hands over more hostage bodies

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 as Hamas handed over more bodies of dead hostages, following a dispute that had threatened the fragile ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel had warned it could keep Rafah shut and reduce aid supplies because it said 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 several Israeli bodies overnight and two more coffins later on Wednesday. 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.

Seeking to keep the pressure on Hamas, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would consider allowing Israeli forces to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to uphold its end of the ceasefire deal that he brokered.

"Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word. If Israel could go in and knock the crap of them, they’d do that," Trump was quoted as saying to CNN in a brief telephone call when asked what would happen if Hamas refused to disarm.

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 Israeli military said it received two more coffins from the Red Cross at a meeting point in northern Gaza Strip late on Wednesday, and the bodies were being taken for forensic identification.

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.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered preparation of a comprehensive plan for the "total defeat" of Hamas if it refuses to abide by Trump's plan and fighting is renewed, according to a ministry statement.

Until the latest handover of two coffins, 21 bodies of hostages had remained 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 resistance has abided by what was agreed upon and has handed over all the living captives it had, as well as the bodies it was able to retrieve," Hamas' armed wing said. "As for the remaining bodies, locating and recovering them requires major efforts and special equipment, and we are exerting great effort to close this file."

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.

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.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of 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.

Underscoring the political challenges facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an opponent of the ceasefire plan, said on X that the aid delivery was a "disgrace" and accused Hamas of lies over the return of hostages' bodies.

VIOLENCE IN GAZA

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

Trump this week endorsed Hamas' crackdown on gangs, while warning it would face airstrikes if it did not later disarm.

Palestinian President 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.

(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, Alex Richardson and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Ros Russell, Aidan Lewis and Diane Craft)