From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Ben Gvir says Hamas must be erased after it fails to return all hostages’ bodies
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says that Hamas must be erased, following the terror group’s failure to return all deceased Israeli hostages as part of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement, which came into effect last week — an agreement the far-right minister opposed.
“Enough with the disgrace,” Ben Gvir says in a statement. “Moments after opening the crossings to hundreds of trucks, Hamas very quickly returned to its known methods — to lie, to cheat, and to abuse families and the bodies. This Nazi terror understands only force, and the only way to deal with it is to erase it from the face of the earth.”
Israel has accused Hamas of violating the recently implemented ceasefire by withholding the bodies of deceased hostages. Hamas released the final 20 living hostages on Monday and has returned the bodies of seven dead captives, but is still holding 21 deceased hostages.
Ben Gvir said last night that Hamas is “playing games” by delaying the return of the bodies of Israeli hostages, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue “a clear ultimatum to Hamas: if you do not immediately return all the bodies of our fallen and you continue with these delays, we will immediately halt all aid supplies entering the Strip.”
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