Hamas released the body of a Gaza resident in place of a slain hostage while delivering four bodies to Israel on Tuesday, causing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to express his outrage on Wednesday.
Israeli sources have estimated that this was a mistake, as the body belonged to a Gazan man in an IDF uniform, who was suspected to be a fighter killed in the war.
"Nazi terrorism understands only force, and the only way to solve problems with it is to wipe it off the face of the earth," Ben-Gvir stated, calling for military action to be taken.
“Enough with the disgrace.
“Moments after opening the gates to hundreds of trucks, Hamas quickly reverted to its well-known tactics, lying, deceiving, and abusing families and bodies,” Ben-Gvir stated.
Israeli gov't mourns returned hostages
“Hamas released a body that is not that of a fallen soldier. We are clear when we say this: Hamas must return all the fallen hostages; we will not compromise and will spare no effort until all the fallen are returned,” the statement read. “Hamas committed to this before President Trump, and all the fallen must come home. Humanitarian aid has never been interrupted. ”
The remains of the Israeli deceased hostages were Uriel Baruch, St.-Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi, and Eitan Levi, and were identified at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute early on Wednesday morning.
The Prime Minister’s Office put out a statement on Wednesday morning expressing condolences to the families of the deceased hostages.
“The Government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the Baruch, Nimrodi, and Levi families, and all the families of the fallen hostages,” the PMO stated.
The office also asserted its commitment to returning all the deceased hostages for proper burial.
"The Hamas terrorist organization is required to uphold its commitments to the mediators and return them as part of the implementation of the agreement, the statement added. "We will not compromise on this and will spare no effort until we return all of the fallen hostages, every last one of them."
Ben-Gvir had also called on Netanyahu on Tuesday evening to issue a clear ultimatum to Hamas after it did not release all deceased hostages on time and in accordance with the US-brokered agreement.
“If you do not immediately return all the bodies of our fallen and continue to delay, we will immediately halt all aid supplies entering the Strip,” Ben-Gvir suggested for the ultimatum.
“The fact that Hamas allows itself to continue playing games and to delay the return of the bodies of our fallen indicates that the terrorist organization is still alive and active, and that the mission to destroy it has not yet been achieved, and must be achieved as soon as possible, as part of the war’s objectives,” he said.