Israel plans to halve aid into Gaza over slow return of dead hostages

The ceasefire plan introduced by Donald Trump called for 'all hostages, alive and deceased' to be returned within 72 hours of the agreement’s acceptance

Photographs of Israeli hostages at the plaza known as hostages square in Tel Aviv (Francisco Seco/AP)

The fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war was tested on Tuesday as the slower-than-hoped return of dead hostages from Gaza prompted an Israeli military agency to declare a “violation” of the truce agreement that it would respond to by halving the number of aid trucks allowed into the devastated territory.

Word of the cut in aid was transmitted to US officials and international aid groups, according to three AP sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

The Israeli government did not immediately comment.

The ceasefire plan introduced by US President Donald Trump called for “all hostages, alive and deceased” to be returned within 72 hours of the agreement’s acceptance.

Destroyed buildings in Khan Younis, southern Gaza (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)

But it also provided a mechanism if that did not happen, saying Hamas should share information about any remaining dead hostages and “exert maximum effort to ensure the fulfilment of these commitments as soon as possible”.

The agreement also said Israel would provide information on the remains of Palestinians who died in Israeli custody.

Hamas and the International Committee of the Red Cross have said that, because of the widespread destruction in Gaza, recovering the hostages’ bodies is a big challenge.

Palestinians in Gaza appealed for authorities to move quickly to restore some semblance of normality.

Mohamad Abu Hajras, a displaced Palestinian from Khan Younis, said he is hopeful the ceasefire agreement will swiftly lead to Gaza’s reconstruction.

“There is no infrastructure, electricity, water, or anything that is fit for life,” Mr Hajras said.

On Tuesday, the UN development agency said the latest joint estimate from the UN, the European Union and the World Bank is that 70 billion dollars (£53 billion) will be required to rebuild Gaza.

The war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel, has killed more than 67,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants.

It says women and children make up around half the dead, and many independent experts say its figures are the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.