Israel on Tuesday decided not to reopen the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt the next day, as required by the ceasefire deal, accusing Hamas of failing to stand by its commitment to return the bodies of all dead hostages still held by Palestinian terrorists in the Strip.

Israel said it would also reduce the amount of aid flowing into Gaza as part of the sanctions against the terror group.

The moves followed assessments by Israeli defense officials that Hamas has not made significant efforts to return the remaining bodies of the hostages, and amid rising anger among their families, with the main group representing them demanding that the ceasefire agreement’s implementation be halted until their loved ones are returned.

Meanwhile, a senior Red Cross official told The Times of Israel that the transfer of the bodies of four additional slain hostages was slated to take place at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, confirming earlier reports.

Some bereaved families also fumed after they received a letter from the government expressing sadness at the “heavy price” they paid, which the letter said helped lead to “the end of the war and the return of all the hostages.”

The Red Cross, meanwhile, said that it could take “much more time” to retrieve the 24 remaining captives due to conditions in Gaza, as the Israel Defense Forces announced that forensic experts identified the four slain hostages returned by Hamas on Monday night.

Israel confirmed Tuesday night that the bodies of four hostages returned by Hamas a day earlier had been identified by forensic experts as Guy Illouz, 26, Bipin Joshi, 23, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and IDF officer Cpt. Daniel Perez, 22.

The bodies were returned hours after Hamas released the last 20 living hostages abducted when the terror group invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the Gaza war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Tuesday evening that the bodies were identified by forensic experts that morning.

“The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the Illouz, Joshi, Perez and Sharabi families and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

It added that Israel is “determined, committed, and working tirelessly” to bring back all of the slain hostages for burial, adding that Hamas is “required to fulfill its commitments to the mediators and return them as part of the implementation of the agreement.”

Citing intelligence information, the military said Illouz was wounded and kidnapped alive by Hamas terrorists near the Gaza border’s Tel Gama area, where he fled from the massacre at the Re’im-area Nova party on the morning of the October 7 onslaught.

Illouz, who was confirmed dead in December 2023, died in captivity of untreated wounds sustained in the onslaught, the IDF said. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents most of the hostage families, cited freed captive Maya Regev as saying Illouz was abducted unconscious and died of his wounds at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, where he was bound to a bed for a week.

Regev was brought into Illouz’s room 36 hours before he died, according to the Forum, which said Illouz told her that “his mother is the strongest woman in the world, and the moment he’ll come back home he’ll hug her and never let go.”

A native of Ra’anana in central Israel, Illouz was “well-known in the music industry as the sound technician for many artists,” including the band HaYehudim and iconic Israeli singers Mati Caspi and Shalom Hanoch, the Forum said. He is survived by his parents Michel and Doris, and his siblings, Uri and Maya.

“Relatives described him as a person with a huge heart, who only ever wanted what was good for people and that they enjoy themselves,” it added. “Guy’s energy broadcast love and respect.”

Joshi, a Nepali agriculture student whose death had not been confirmed by Israel until now, was abducted from a Kibbutz Alumim bomb shelter where he took cover with other foreign agricultural workers. The IDF said it assessed that he was murdered in captivity during the first months of the war.

Joshi’s Nepalese friend Himanchal Kattel, the group’s only survivor,........

© The Times of Israel