Senior White House officials who were instrumental in brokering the Gaza ceasefire deal have once again travelled to Israel as cracks have emerged in the peace agreement.
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, local time, a day after Israel launched dozens of strikes across Gaza in retaliation to claimed violations of the deal by Hamas.
Palestinian health authorities said at least 44 people were killed in those strikes, including women and children.
US Vice-President JD Vance is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming hours to join the delegation, while Hamas mediators are holding further talks in Egypt.
"We made a deal with Hamas that, you know, they're going to be very good, they're going to behave, they're going to be nice. And if they're not, we're going to go and we're going to eradicate them if we have to," Mr Trump said in Washington, sitting alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
"They'll be eradicated, and they know that."
Israel and Hamas are accusing each other of jeopardising the ceasefire, which appears to be officially holding despite the strikes on Sunday.
Hamas argues Israel has been indiscriminately attacking civilians and refusing to let more aid into the strip, while Israel insistes Hamas fighters has opened fire on its troops and crossed the so-called yellow line into Israeli-military-controlled territory in Gaza.
Video published by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Monday showed heavy machinery moving bright yellow concrete blocks into place along that boundary, in what authorities said was an effort to inform Palestinians of areas to stay away from.
Israel has also accused Hamas of delaying the return of the bodies of dead Israeli hostages.
Last Monday, 20 living captives were freed and the process of returning the remains of the 28 dead hostages began.
So far, only 12 have been delivered to Israeli authorities although Hamas has signalled it will hand over another body to the Red Cross sometime after 4am AEDT on Tuesday.
Coming days key to ceasefire's next phase
Vance, Witkoff and Kushner will be pressing for further progress on phase two of the ceasefire deal, which was based on Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.
Phase one focused on the initial halt in hostilities and the release of Israeli hostages.
Former senior Mossad official Oded Ailam said the agreement was currenly vague, opening the door for Israel to act in the way it did on Sunday with heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
"The so-called agreement is not actually an agreement, the 20 points of Trump, but it’s more … a vision, maybe a letter of intent, but it's not a precise agreement since we are missing essential parts of the agreement," he told the ABC.
"First of all, the timetable. Second, who is going to implement the dismantling of Hamas. And third, what are the sanctions that will be taken of any breach of the agreement by both sides?
"So it's not an actual agreement, but rather more of a vision that has to be translated into a robust and rigid agreement."
Mr Ailam, now a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, said it was still uncertain if it would be a success.
"The following days will be very important in order to determine the rules of the game," he said.
"Israel must be very decisive, must be aggressive.
"It pretty much depends on the Americans.
"The only thing that is predictable in the Middle East is it’s unpredictable."
But Mr Ailam said Türkiye and Qatar's influence in getting the initial deal over the line needed to be curtailed if it was to continue, arguing the countries were a threat to Israel’s interests.
"We have to come to a point where we say, ‘Thank you very much. We really appreciate that you had released the hostages. Please take your things and go away from here,'" he said.
Rival groups
On Sunday, the IDF accused Hamas of opening fire on troops in the southern Gaza city of Rafah using anti-tank weapons. Two Israeli soldiers were killed.
Reports have surfaced that the real cause of the deaths had been an Israeli bulldozer driving over unexploded ordnance, but the Israeli military and government have rejected that.
Hamas distanced itself from the attack, saying the area where it happened was under Israeli control and that the group had no contact with militants in the area for months.
“I'm not saying that from definite knowledge, but from my experience the attack that we have seen [on Sunday] wasn't initiated by the leadership of the Hamas, but rather by local factions of Hamas in Rafah and in other places, which are not obliged by the agreement and are not fully controlled by the Hamas,” Mr Ailam said.
Local media had been reporting some of the strikes on Sunday may have been designed to protect other local militia operating in Gaza who are at odds with Hamas and are being supporting by Israel.
"Some of the groups, we are actually supporting them militarily — whenever they are attacked, Israel is sending either drones or aircrafts to assist them," Mr Ailam revealed.
"Hamas is right now trying to facilitate some sort of vengeance — and not just vengeance, but they are trying to portray anyone who is collaborating with the Jews is going to end up in the streets of Gaza with a bullet in his neck."
Mr Ailam insisted that while it might be viewed as a worthwhile strategy now, it would not work long term.
"I think it's a risky approach being taken right now," he said.
"Don't forget, we are talking about groups that are crime families, most of them. It's like letting Tony Soprano run New Jersey. And they are not very popular among the Gaza people."
Gaza mother waits for son's body
While Israel is demanding Hamas immediately release the remains of all the deceased Israeli hostages — something Hamas says is difficult given the devastation wrought across Gaza — the other side of the ceasefire and hostage exchange is the return of bodies of Palestinians.
Many have been held by Israel for months, if not years.
The International Red Cross said the remains of 150 people had been returned to Gaza since Monday last week, when the handovers began.
Umm Ali was among those who have gathered at the Nasser Hospital in recent days. She is hoping to find her son, who she says has been missing since October 7, 2023.
"I will wait until I find him. I come here every day. I’ve been to five different places looking for the martyrs," she told the ABC.
Abu Hassan was also searching for his son.
"We’re all exhausted. He’s neither here nor there. It’s unbearable that my son isn’t with me," he said.
"If only we could receive his body, we’d find some peace, we’d be comforted, even slightly.
"But right now, we’re not at peace."
Palestinian forensics officials have said many of the bodies have been returned in an advanced state of decomposition, with no identification material, making the process of returning them to families incredibly difficult.
Authorities have taken the desperate step of posting photos of the remains online in the hope someone in the community may recognise them.
The situation has been compounded by signs the individuals have been tortured. There are marks showing their hands and necks have been bound with rope.
The ABC asked Israeli authorities for a response to the suggestions.
"I don't have any information to share on that, but I will go back to you and continue to say if you have any contact with Palestinian health officials, that is Hamas," Shosh Bedrosian, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, said.
"Let's make that very clear.
"And you should ask Hamas where the bodies of our 16 hostages are. We are waiting for them to be returned."
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) argued it acted in accordance with international law.
"The claim that the IDF desecrated bodies after death is false and completely baseless," it said in a statement.
"Spreading unfounded allegations such as these constitutes support for Hamas’s false propaganda.
"Furthermore, all the bodies returned so far are from battles within the Gaza Strip, and not of detainees taken alive to Israel. The claim that the IDF tied the bodies prior to their release to the Strip is false."
