Israel calls Hamas’ return of partial remains of previously recovered hostage “clear violation” of peace deal
Israel’s government said Tuesday that a set of partial hostage remains returned by Hamas the previous day belonged to a deceased captive recovered by the military around two years ago.
“After completing the identification process this morning, it was found that last night remains belonging to the fallen hostage Ofir Tzarfati, who had been returned from the Gaza Strip in a military operation about two years ago, were returned,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
“This constitutes a clear violation of the [Gaza peace] agreement” by Hamas, Netanyahu’s office said, adding that the prime minister would meet with the heads of Israel’s defense establishment, “during which Israel’s steps in response to the violations will be discussed.”
An Israeli group campaigning for the release of hostages held in Gaza urged authorities to “act decisively” against Hamas, accusing the U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist group of violating the peace deal brokered by President Trump by returning only the partial remains of the previously recovered hostage, Ofir Tzarfati, rather than one of the 13 whose bodies remain in Gaza.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty/Alexi Rosenfeld 
“In light of Hamas’ severe breach of the agreement last night … the Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents many of the hostage families, said in a statement.
The forum has urged Israel’s leaders to declare Hamas in breach of the peace deal since it started handing over the remains of 28 deceased hostages that had been held in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has said it needs more time, assistance and heavy equipment to locate and recover the remaining 13 bodies still in the Palestinian territory, and that work has ramped up in recent days, with Egypt sending a team to assist and the Red Cross confirming to CBS News on Monday that its staff were accompanying recovery teams on the ground.
President Trump warned on Saturday that he was “watching very closely” to ensure that Hamas returned more bodies within 48 hours.
“Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,” he wrote on his Truth Social network.
Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini/Anadolu/Getty 
Israeli hostage negotiator and peace campaigner Gershon Baskin told CBS News earlier this month that it was ” very likely that there might be Israeli bodies underneath the rubble” in Gaza, where the Hamas-run government estimates that at least 90% of the buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
“Some of the deceased hostages may never be found, and that’s part of the reality, but we have to make sure that Hamas is doing everything possible to do it,” Baskin said.
During negotiations on the Israel-Hamas peace deal, Hamas representatives said they did not know the location of all the remains of deceased hostages, according to Israeli media.
