Netanyahu Demands Hamas Disarmament to End Gaza War: Ceasefire Complications and Humanitarian Crisis

Netanyahu emphasized that the Gaza conflict will continue until Hamas is completely disarmed and the Palestinian territory is demilitarized.

Palestinian Territories:

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly stated that the war in Gaza would not conclude until Hamas was disarmed and the Palestinian territory was completely demilitarized.

This declaration coincided with Hamas's military wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, transferring the remains of two more hostages on Saturday evening as part of a US-mediated ceasefire agreement.

According to Netanyahu's office, a Red Cross team received the remains of two hostages from Hamas and transferred them to Israeli forces in Gaza, from where they would be transported to Israel for identification.

The issue of deceased hostages still in Gaza has become a significant point of contention in implementing the first phase of the ceasefire. Israel has connected the reopening of the critical Rafah crossing to the recovery of these hostages' remains.

Netanyahu stressed that completing the ceasefire's second phase was crucial to ending the war, which involves disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip.

"When that is successfully completed -- hopefully in an easy way, but if not, in a hard way -- then the war will end," he stated during an appearance on the right-wing Israeli Channel 14.

Hamas has thus far rejected this proposition and has been working to reassert control over Gaza since the pause in fighting began.

The US State Department announced on Saturday that it had "credible reports" indicating Hamas was planning an imminent attack against civilians in Gaza, warning that such action would constitute a "ceasefire violation".

"Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire," the statement read, without specifying the nature or target of the potential attack.

Under the ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has released all 20 living hostages, along with the remains of nine Israelis and one Nepalese citizen.

In exchange, Israel has freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and returned 135 Palestinian bodies since the truce came into effect on October 10.

Hamas has indicated it needs time and technical assistance to recover the remaining bodies, claiming they are buried beneath Gaza's rubble.

Netanyahu's office announced he had "directed that the Rafah crossing remain closed until further notice".

"Its reopening will be considered based on how Hamas fulfils its part in returning the hostages and the bodies of the deceased, and in implementing the agreed-upon framework," the statement continued, referring to the week-old ceasefire deal.

Hamas warned late Saturday that closing the Rafah crossing would cause "significant delays in the retrieval and transfer of remains".

Further delays to the crossing's reopening could complicate the work of Tom Fletcher, the UN head of humanitarian relief, who visited northern Gaza on Saturday.

"To see the devastation -- this is a vast part of the city, just a wasteland -- and it's absolutely devastating to see," he told AFP.

Fletcher described the challenge facing the UN and aid agencies as a "massive, massive job".

He recounted meeting residents returning to destroyed homes who were attempting to dig latrines in the ruins.

"We have a massive 60-day plan now to surge in food, get a million meals out there a day, start to rebuild the health sector, bring in tents for the winter, get hundreds of thousands of kids back into school."

Despite the ceasefire, some violence has persisted.

Gaza's civil defence agency, operating under Hamas authority, reported on Saturday that it had recovered the bodies of nine Palestinians -- two men, three women, and four children -- from the Shaaban family after Israeli troops fired two tank shells at a bus.

Two additional victims were dismembered in the blast and their remains have yet to be recovered, according to the agency.

At Gaza City's Al-Ahli Hospital, the victims were laid out in white shrouds as their relatives mourned.

"My daughter, her children and her husband; my son, his children and his wife were killed. What did they do wrong?" demanded grandmother Umm Mohammed Shaaban.

The Israeli military stated it had fired on a vehicle approaching the so-called "yellow line", to which its forces withdrew under the ceasefire terms, but provided no casualty estimates.