Instead of releasing one of the bodies of the 13 deceased hostages still being held in Gaza, additional remains of an Israeli hostage who was already buried were returned to Israel. Many inside of Israel are outraged by this blatant cease-fire violation.
By Rachel Avraham
Once again, the Hamas terror organization has violated the cease-fire agreement by returning additional remains that belong to slain hostage Ofir Tzarfati, instead of the bodies of the 13 hostages that remain in Hamas captivity. The Jerusalem Post reported that Tzarfati was pronounced dead after his remains were returned to Israel during an IDF and Shin Bet operation in December 2023. Additional remains of Tzarfati were brought to Israel in March 2024, the Jerusalem Post reported. And now, his grave is being dug up for a third time in order to place additional remains in the same grave.
“This cannot go without a response,” an Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post. Israel has said Hamas has access to many of the remaining bodies and is dragging its feet in returning them, which it is required to do under the terms of the US-backed ceasefire agreement, the Times of Israel reported.
“Contrary to Hamas’ claims of difficulties locating the bodies of the deceased hostages, yesterday Hamas operatives were documented removing body remains from a structure that had been prepared in advance and burying them nearby,” the IDF said in a statement.
“Shortly thereafter, the Hamas terror organization summoned representatives of the Red Cross and staged a false display of discovering a deceased hostage’s body,” it said.
The military said the footage “clearly shows that the Hamas terror organization is attempting to create a false impression of efforts to locate the bodies, while in fact holding deceased hostages whose remains it refuses to release as required by the agreement.”
“This is accompanied by false claims of shortages in engineering equipment, equipment that is clearly unnecessary for the transfer of remains, and therefore these claims do not constitute an obstacle to the return of the remaining deceased hostages,” the IDF added.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters released a statement following the announcement, calling for an urgent meeting with Netanyahu over Hamas’ cease-fire violations, Haaretz reported.
“Hamas’s repeated violations and the IDF’s documentation prove what we have known and stated clearly and unequivocally: Hamas knows the location of the hostages and continues to act with contempt, deceiving the United States and mediators while dishonoring our loved ones,” the forum said. “The Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations.”
“Returning all hostages is the state’s obligation and a moral imperative – Hamas cannot be given a pass for violating the agreement,” it added.
According to Yedioth Achronot, Tzarafti’s family was shown the footage Tuesday morning. “We went to bed hoping another family would finally get closure,” the family said in a statement, “but we woke to find ourselves being used in yet another deception. It’s a grotesque manipulation meant to sabotage the deal and abandon the hostages.”
Yedioth Achronot reported that Racheli said the IDF called to inform them of the updated identification. “We cried when we heard. You can’t be immune to something like this,” she said. “Getting my son back in installments—this is a wound that reopens each time. We will hold another ceremony, though we’re not yet sure what form it will take. Ofir deserves a final, dignified rest. We hope this will be the last time we reopen his grave.” Despite the anguish, she expressed a measure of solace. “There is comfort in knowing that the rest of his remains will be brought home for burial and not left in that place of evil and cruelty.”
Photo from i24NEWS English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SVAjK7K8dA
