Israel delayed aid into Gaza and kept the enclave's border shut on Tuesday, while Hamas demonstrated its grip by executing men in the street, darkening the outlook for US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war.
Three Israeli officials said Israel had decided to restrict aid into the shattered Gaza Strip and delay plans to open the border crossing to Egypt at least through Wednesday, because Hamas had been too slow to turn over bodies of dead captives. The group has said locating the bodies is difficult.
Meanwhile, Hamas has swiftly reclaimed the streets of Gaza's urban areas, following the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops last week.
Trump has given his blessing to Hamas to reassert some control of Gaza, at least temporarily. Israeli officials, who say any final settlement must permanently disarm Hamas, have so far refrained from commenting publicly on the re-emergence of the group's fighters.
On Monday, the US president proclaimed the "historic dawn of a new Middle East" to Israel's parliament, as Israel and Hamas were exchanging the last 20 living Israeli captives in Gaza for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners.
But so far, Hamas has handed over only four coffins of dead captives, leaving at least 23 presumed dead and one unaccounted for, still in Gaza.
Aid trucks have yet to be permitted to enter Gaza at the full anticipated rate of hundreds per day, and plans have yet to be implemented to open the crossing to Egypt to let some Gazans out, initially to evacuate the wounded for medical treatment.
Gaza residents said Hamas fighters were increasingly visible on Tuesday, deploying along routes needed for aid deliveries.
Meanwhile, Israeli drone fire killed five people as they went to check on houses in a suburb east of Gaza City and an air strike killed one person and injured another near Khan Yunis, Gaza health authorities said. - AFP
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