Gaza's Rafah crossing could stay closed over dead hostages not being released

Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Israel might keep Gaza's important Rafah crossing closed due to a lack of progress by Hamas in returning the remains of some of the dead hostages to Israel.

Hamas responded to reports that Israel would keep the crossing closed by turning over four more dead bodies of former hostages on Tuesday night, NBC News reported.

The return of the four bodies raises to eight the total returned to Israel amid a cease-fire that requires Hamas to return the remains of 28 missing hostages who are thought to be dead.

Israel accepted the remains on Tuesday and provided Hamas with the remains of 45 Gazans, according to the Red Cross.

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The Rafah crossing is one of the most important crossings at the Gaza border and leads into Egypt and was scheduled to open on Wednesday, but Israel has threatened to keep it closed if more hostage remains are not returned, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Several humanitarian organizations are preparing to greatly increase the flow of supplies into Gaza, but Israeli officials have said they will reduce or delay aid if they aren't satisfied with Hamas' efforts to return the remains of dead hostages, according to CNN.

The cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel calls for the Rafah crossing to open on Wednesday, and Egyptian teams are searching for the dead hostages' remains to expedite their return to Israel, i24 News reported.

Hamas released 20 living hostages on Monday, but the transfer of eight of the 28 dead hostages does not satisfy the cease-fire agreement's terms between Hamas and Israel.

The cease-fire agreement also requires Hamas to "exert maximum effort to ensure the fulfillment of these conditions as soon as possible," according to The Times of Israel.

Hamas officials earlier said they might have trouble locating all of the remains, some of which are in the possession of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad, which also participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israeli civilians that led to the two-year war in Gaza.

Failure to release all of the remains means the terms of the first phase of the cease-fire agreement are not fulfilled and could jeopardize progress to phase two.

The 20 living hostages are undergoing medical and mental health evaluations and spending time with their respective families, according to i24 News.

While the cease-fire has begun, Israel Defense Forces reported several people in northern Gaza crossed a yellow line and continued to advance toward IDF troops.

The troops tried to disperse the individuals and opened fire when those efforts failed, but there were no reports of casualties.