Hamas Returns Wrong Hostage to Israel in Gaza Prisoner Swap

Welcome back to the Global Brief, where we look at the setbacks that occurred Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, NATO Pledges of military aid Ukraineand MadagascarMilitary coup.

“Until the last”

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that one of the bodies Hamas returned to Israel this week was not among the remaining hostages held in Gaza over the past two years. It remains unclear who was misidentified, but such a mix-up could threaten the ceasefire agreement that only lasted five days and reignite conflict in the region.

Welcome back to the Global Brief, where we look at the setbacks that occurred Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, NATO Pledges of military aid Ukraineand MadagascarMilitary coup.

“Until the last”

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that one of the bodies Hamas returned to Israel this week was not among the remaining hostages held in Gaza over the past two years. It remains unclear who was misidentified, but such a mix-up could threaten the ceasefire agreement that only lasted five days and reignite conflict in the region.

As part of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement, Hamas released all 20 living hostages on Monday, as well as the bodies of eight others (four on Monday and four on Tuesday) in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Hamas is expected to return the remains of at least two more dead prisoners on Wednesday, bringing the total number of bodies still to be released to at least 18.

However, Hamas’s failure to return all the dead hostages by Monday has angered senior Israeli officials. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will not give up on this matter and we will not stop our efforts until we return the last deceased hostage, until the last hostage.”

On Tuesday, Israel threatened to reduce the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza due to Hamas’ slow efforts to return despite aid delivery guarantees stipulated in the ceasefire agreement. However, the release of four more bodies later that day apparently convinced Israel to allow humanitarian aid in. According to the Egyptian Red Crescent, at least 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medical supplies headed to Gaza on Wednesday, and Israeli officials resumed preparations to reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

“Throughout this crisis, we have insisted that withholding aid to civilians is not a bargaining chip,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, referring to restrictions imposed by Israel in the past on the flow of aid to Gaza. Since the war began in October 2023, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, hundreds of thousands more have needed humanitarian aid, and almost all of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents have been displaced.

Although Israel has publicly condemned Hamas’ slow efforts to return the hostages, many officials have privately acknowledged that it may take the militant group longer to return the rest of the bodies, because they may be buried under rubble or in areas that Hamas can no longer reach. According to UN satellite images, more than 80 percent of buildings in Gaza were damaged or destroyed.

This is not the first time that Hamas has handed over the wrong person. In February, Hamas returned the body of someone it claimed was 32-year-old Sherry Bibas as part of a ceasefire and hostage release agreement that Israel unilaterally broke just weeks later. But DNA tests found that the remains did not match those of Bibas, but were those of a Palestinian woman. Bibas’s body was returned a day later — but not before Netanyahu vowed revenge for the “cruel and malicious violation.”

However, tensions related to the prisoner exchange are not limited to the Israeli side only. As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel must return 360 dead Palestinians. Among some of the 90 bodies Israel has returned since Monday, Gaza health officials have documented what appears to be evidence of physical abuse. Sameh Hamad, a member of the committee charged with receiving bodies at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, told the Associated Press: “There are traces of torture and executions.” It is unclear whether these individuals were killed while in Israeli custody or if they were taken from Gaza while Israeli forces were searching for hostages.

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Military aid pledges NATO defense ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday to announce wide-ranging new military aid commitments to Kiev. The pledges are part of a fast-track program that allows European countries and Canada to purchase US weapons and other equipment – such as air defense systems, radar systems and ammunition – to provide to Ukraine in its war against Russia. Ukrainian Defense Minister Denis Shmyhal estimated that Kiev would need $60 billion in foreign aid in 2026 to fend off a Moscow attack.

Among the pledges made on Wednesday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius pledged to buy US weapons worth $500 million as part of an aid package worth more than $2 billion. Berlin will also separately supply Ukraine with “two other Iris-T air defense systems, including a large number of guided missiles, as well as shoulder-fired air defense missiles,” Pistorius said.

Meanwhile, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Sweden joined the fast-track program on Wednesday. According to NATO President Mark Rutte, more than half of the alliance has now signed on to the initiative, adding that participation in the program will count toward members’ minimum defense spending requirements, which is 5 percent of their gross domestic product.

Military coup. A military coup in Madagascar on Tuesday ousted President Andry Rajoelina after weeks of anti-government protests led by Generation Z over high poverty rates and widespread power outages. Rajoelina, who said late Monday that he had left the country fearing for his life, tried to dissolve parliament’s lower house on Tuesday to avoid accountability. However, the panel rejected the move, and lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to end his rule. Shortly after the impeachment vote, soldiers entered the presidential palace and announced the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of most of the country’s major political institutions. Rajoelina himself came to power through a military-backed coup in 2009.

Demonstrations began last month, with thousands of young people denouncing widespread water and electricity shortages, as well as allegations of government corruption. The protests have mirrored other Gen Z-led movements in Africa, such as in Kenya and Morocco. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 75 percent of its population living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Following Tuesday’s coup (Madagascar’s fourth successful coup since its independence in 1960), the armed forces announced they would form a military-run council to “rapidly” appoint a prime minister, and a constitutional referendum would be held within two years. Colonel Michael Randrianrina, head of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT military unit, announced on Wednesday that he will become the country’s interim president.

Pause in combat. Pakistan agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire with Afghanistan on Wednesday, after violent clashes on the border over the weekend left dozens dead. The governments of both countries claim that the other party insisted on the truce agreement. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have pressed both sides to stop the fighting, with experts concerned that this latest escalation will allow terrorist groups in the region, such as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda, to regain a foothold.

Pakistan has long accused the Taliban of harboring militants who have killed hundreds of Pakistani security forces in recent years. Afghanistan denied these accusations, although UN experts accused the Pakistani Taliban of receiving financial support from the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

A series of diplomatic meetings this year, mediated by China, initially signaled a reset in bilateral relations. But last Thursday, hostilities erupted when the Taliban blamed Pakistan for at least two explosions and an airstrike in Kabul — the same day Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaki traveled to India for the first time since the group seized power in 2021. Islamabad has neither confirmed nor denied its alleged involvement.

The ensuing clashes, which both sides accuse the other of inciting, led to the deaths of more than 200 Taliban fighters and about 58 Pakistani soldiers. Afghanistan also accused Pakistan of killing more than 12 civilians and wounding more than 100 others; Islamabad denied targeting civilians.

Odds and Ends

How many cats is too many cats? For Cyprus, that number is one million, or roughly one cat for every head of the country’s population. Cypriot Environment Minister Maria Panayiotou announced this month that Nicosia will triple federal funding for cat sterilization to €300,000 annually in an effort to eradicate the country’s big cat population. But experts warn that this may not be enough to protect Cyprus’ ecosystem from this ferocious predator.