Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he is determined to secure the return of the dead hostages still in Gaza, and that the country will continue to fight terrorism with full force. The Prime Minister made the statement at an official memorial ceremony yesterday at the Mount Herzl national cemetery in Jerusalem, two days after the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the 7 October attack.

 

 

There has been fury in Israel that Hamas has not returned all the bodies in line with last week’s Gaza ceasefire deal. Hamas returned 9 out of 28 bodies of hostages but said it was not able to access the remaining 19. Hamas’s military wing said on Wednesday that it would continue to search for the remaining bodies, but it would require major efforts and specialist equipment. All 20 living hostages were released by Hamas on Monday, in exchange for nearly 1900 Palestinians.