Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge Friday for what he described as a cruel and malicious violation of the ceasefire agreement after a body that Hamas released as part of the deal was found to not be that of an Israeli mother of two young boys, as the militants had promised.
The incident raised questions about the future of the fragile ceasefire deal, which has paused over 15 months of war and is due to see its first phase end in early March. But in the short term, there were indications the deal's next step the release of six living hostages on Saturday would proceed as planned.
In a statement Friday, Hamas said it would conduct a thorough review of the information regarding the body. It suggested a possible mix-up of remains might have occurred due to Israeli bombing of the area where the Israeli hostages were being held because other Palestinians were also present.
Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, also announced Friday it would go ahead with the