US President Donald Trump. AP
Speaking to Axios, Trump said the recovery of the remains of the last Israeli captive followed a “very tough” search operation amid widespread destruction in Gaza.
Trump credited Hamas with cooperating in the search. “They worked very hard to get the body back. They were working with Israel on it. You can imagine how hard it was,” he said, describing the effort as unusually complex given the conditions on the ground.
Trump said he was briefed earlier on Monday by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner before speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he said “was thrilled” by the recovery.
Hazem Qassem, the Palestinian resistance group spokesman , said the recovery demonstrated the group’s adherence to the ceasefire agreement.
“The discovery of the body of the last Israeli prisoner in Gaza confirms Hamas’s commitment to all the requirements of the ceasefire agreement on the Gaza Strip, including the prisoner exchange process and its complete closure as stipulated in the agreement,” he said.
Trump said the next phase of the ceasefire must include Hamas’s disarmament. “Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised,” he said.
Hamas has repeatedly rejected calls to disarm in the short term, stresssing that resistance to a continued occupation was a right guaranteed by international law.
The second phase of the ceasefire agreement, brokered in October by Cairo, Doha, Ankara, and Washington, calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF).
The return of the final captive deprives Israel of its last justification of continuing its deadly violations of the October ceasefire provisions with Hamas, which includes ending its deadly strikes on the strip, reopening of all border crossings, allowing the unfettered entry of humanitarian aid at agreed levels, the phased withdrawal of Israeli occupatoion forces from Gaza, and the start of the process of reconstruction of the strip.
Since 11 October, Israel has carried out tens of strikes on Gaza, killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians and limited the entry of humanitarian aid to the population despite harsh winter conditions.
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