HAMAS handed over the body of an unknown Palestinian in place of one of the hostages last night, Israel believes.
Four more bodies were returned and three have been confirmed as Israeli hostages – with the terror chiefs claiming to have “lost track” of many of the remaining 21 corpses.
The mystery body is believed to belong to a dead Gazan, a security official told Hebrew media, in yet another blow to the fragile ceasefire.
It is also being tested by gang warfare erupting in the strip, Israel’s refusal to open the Rafah crossing and fears Hamas will not disarm.
The three correct bodies returned were identified as Tamir Nimrodi, 18, Eitan Levy, 53, and Uriel Baruch, 35.
Eitan and Uriel are believed to have been murdered on October 7 and their bodies taken into Gaza, while it’s thought Tamir was abducted alive and killed soon afterwards.
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That means the bodies seven of the 28 hostages thought to have died are now back – in addition to the 20 surviving hostages set free on Monday.
Israel had given Hamas a deadline for the end of Tuesday to return all the bodies, believing they were being deliberately withheld.
Donald Trump has now suggested Hamas “misrepresented” the number of hostages it could return.
This implies the terror group is simply unable to locate the bodies – rather than deliberately clinging onto them.
Hamas insists that – despite its best efforts – it has been unable to locate up to 15 of the corpses beneath the rubble, with over 80 per cent of Gaza’s buildings destroyed.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office warns that Hamas “is required to fulfil its commitments” and that Israeli will “spare no effort until we bring back all of the fallen hostages”.
And Netanyahu appears to be sticking to its guns in restricting the amount of aid flowing into Gaza.
His government has refused to open the Rafah crossing, as was initially planned, because Hamas has failed to uphold its side of the bargain in returning all the hostages.
Reports this morning suggested the crossing would be opened after all – but the Israeli government has clarified it will only be for the entrance and exit of Gazans, not aid.
There are hundreds of trucks bulging with aid lined up at Rafah, ready to roll in as soon as the gates are opened.
Trump yesterday fired a stern warned to Hamas that it must lay down its arms or expect a “violent” intervention.
His blueprint ruled that the group must lay disarm – but there are doubts over whether this is likely to happen.
The President thundered: “They will disarm — and if they don’t I’m gonna make them disarm.”
Trump said he was prepared to force Hamas to disarm “quickly and perhaps violently”.
He also brushed off the executions and gun-fight deaths Hamas has perpetrated in Gaza since the ceasefire.
Footage emerged of militants shooting dead six men who were blindfolded on their knees, in front of a large crowd, and dozens more were reportedly killed in violent skirmishes.
Asked about the reports, Trump said Hamas “took out two very evil gangs” and “killed a number of them”, which he said “didn’t bother me much”.
Hamas said it had recalled 7,000 members of its security forces in order to “cleanse Gaza of outlaws and collaborators” – sparking fears of a bloody civil war.
Over the weekend, before the hostage release, over 30 people died in Gaza City during ferocious gun battles between Hamas and a rival group, reportedly the Dogmush militia.
Peace was tested again when the IDF shot dead seven Gazans who apparently crossed the “yellow line” to which troops have withdrawn.
The IDF admitted the killings in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya neighborhood, but claimed the Gazans had refused to disperse and come too close.
Netanyahu visited hostages being treated at Beilinson Hospital with his wife Sara last night.
He said: “Over the past two years, my wife and I met with their families many times.
“We cried with them, we hugged them, and I promised them: We will bring them back.
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“There wasn’t a day I didn’t receive reports on their condition – what we knew, what I requested to know. I promised to bring them back, and we brought them back.
“And now, after they have been embraced by their families, we will also embrace them.”
Dream of peace in Middle East is now possible thanks to Trump
By Nick Parker, Foreign Editor
TWO years ago I stood next to a pool of blood in a kibbutz village as Hamas rockets filled the air and Israeli warplanes blitzed the skyline.
Israel’s thirst for revenge was palpable after 1,200 innocents were slaughtered and 251 dragged to the hell-hole tunnels of Gaza by terrorist savages.
Hate filled the air amid talk of merciless revenge among Jews on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
And Hamas leaders emboldened by their “victory” spread their venom across the powder keg region by crowing that the October 7 horror was “just the start”.
It seemed in those dark days that peace in the Middle East was more of an impossible dream than ever.
Exactly two years since that day in the smashed kibbutz at Be’eri, I found myself standing in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv amid scenes of joyous celebration as the last 20 hostages walked free.
And for the first time I found myself believing that — perhaps years from now — the impossible dream might come true.
Donald Trump delivered the groundbreaking first stage of an accord that has eluded past US presidents for generations by ripping up the diplomacy rule book.
He encouraged, cajoled, bullied and bulldozed all sides, praising Israel’s strongman prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly while pushing him into major concessions privately.
And he drafted in key wingmen who shared his real estate deal-making skills.
Trump’s Middle East envoy, property tycoon Steve Witkoff, 68, took centre stage working behind the scenes to lay the foundation of the deal in talks with Israel and Arab leaders.
The key deal clincher has since emerged as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, husband of the president’s daughter Ivanka.
Recent interviews have revealed how 44-year-old “bare-knuckle” New York real-estate bruiser Kushner sealed the historic accord — by treating it just like another property deal.