The Israeli government is withholding half the number of humanitarian aid trucks originally set to flow into Gaza due to Hamas’s slow release of the deceased hostages.
Following its successful release of all 20 living hostages back to their families in Israel on Monday, Hamas only released four out of 28 deceased hostages still in Gaza. In President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Monday was the agreed-upon deadline to send all of the hostages, living and fallen, back to Israel.
The Israeli government told the United Nations that it would only send 300 aid trucks to the Gaza Strip instead of the 600 initially agreed. The country also said it would not reopen the Rafah border crossing, according to multiple reports, in response to Hamas’s slow release of the deceased hostages.
Throughout the humanitarian crisis and the war in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians have struggled for basic needs such as food, water, and electricity. Hamas has been repeatedly accused of stealing any aid that gets through.
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Hamas has agreed to release four more deceased hostages by 3:00 p.m. EST in response to Israel’s move on Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
Trump took to Truth Social to speak on the matter: “ALL TWENTY HOSTAGES ARE BACK AND FEELING AS GOOD AS CAN BE EXPECTED. A big burden has been lifted, but the job IS NOT DONE. THE DEAD HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED, AS PROMISED! Phase Two begins right NOW!!!”