Image source, Getty Images

In an interview last night with the BBC's US partner CBS News, external, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is hopeful for peace in the next phase of the ceasefire deal, but that under the conditions of Trump's plan "all hell breaks lose" if Hamas doesn't disarm.

"I hope it doesn't," Netanyahu said. "I hope we can do this peacefully. We're certainly ready to do so."

"First, Hamas has to give up its arms," Netanyahu said. "And second, you want to make sure that there are no weapons factories inside Gaza. There's no smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That's demilitarisation."

• For context: Hamas has previously said it will not disarm unless a Palestinian state is established.

Last night, US President Donald Trump said Hamas "are going to disarm, because they said they were going to disarm".

"And if they don't disarm, we will disarm them," he said.

• For context: Part of Trump's 20-point peace plan says, in Gaza: "All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarisation of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning."

Asked by a reporter how that would happen, the president said: "I don't have to explain that to you. But if they don't disarm, we will disarm them."

"They know I'm not playing games," Trump added.

After repeating the claim, the president said: "It will happen quickly and perhaps violently. But they will disarm, do you understand me?"

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Back to Gaza, and we've been hearing from two people in the Strip about the situation there days after a ceasefire came into effect.

Student Mahmoud Emad Rostom is in Khan Younis, and tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme Gazans are finding fruits and vegetables that they couldn't find three months ago.

"I think we could get access to chicken and meat, but the prices will be high because it would be the first time to have meat and chicken and such products at the market since six or eight months ago," he says.

Ghada Al Kourd is a journalist in central Gaza and is about to travel back to her home in Gaza City.

"Most of Gaza City is completely destroyed," she says. "There is no water, electricity, not like the ceasefire in January."

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office has confirmed the names of three of the four deceased hostages who were returned to Israel by Hamas late on Tuesday evening.

It says they have officially been identified as Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrudi and Eitan Levi - earlier their families confirmed the return of their remains.

In a statement, it adds that the government remains committed to returning "all of our fallen abductees for a proper burial in their own country" and presses Hamas "to fulfill its commitments to the mediators and return them within the framework of implementing the agreement".

As a reminder, the remains of 20 more Israeli hostages are believed to still be in Gaza.

Image source, Getty Images

Tess Ingram, from the UN children's fund Unicef, says aid workers have "got better access on the ground to distribute supplies to people".

"We are able to move into areas that we haven't been able to get to for a while," she tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Ingram, who is in Gaza, adds: "We have got more freedom of movement and so our teams are really scaling up distributions on the ground."

She says "people's emotions have gone on a bit of a rollercoaster from relief to uncertainty as to how this ceasefire could take effect".

"Now I think that has tinged with grief as they come to terms with the reality that the situation on the ground is so difficult and they have lost so much over the past two years."

Image source, Reuters

More now from the Israeli security official mentioned in our last post, who tells the BBC: "Humanitarian aid will not pass through the Rafah Crossing.

"No such agreement has been reached at any stage," the official from Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of aid, says.

"The date for opening the crossing for the movement of people only will be announced later," they say.

The Rafah crossing - between Egypt and southern Gaza - did not open on Wednesday morning, an Israeli security official tells the BBC.

"Preparations are ongoing for its opening for the exit and entry of Gazans only," the official adds.

Earlier, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that the Rafah crossing will be reopened by Israel on Wednesday, to allow 600 trucks of humanitarian aid to enter.

Israel had been angered by the initial slow release of the remaining 28 dead hostages and had threatened to limit aid as a result. Earlier Kan reported that it will open after more bodies were returned last night.

The official added that "humanitarian aid continues to enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and other crossings after Israeli security inspection."

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

The slow return of the dead hostages has provoked anger in Israel, raising fears that it could derail the ceasefire deal.

Hamas has not explained the delay.

Twenty bodies remain in Gaza, and reports in Israel say four more are expected to be transferred later today.

The Israeli authorities had threatened to delay the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and restrict the entry of humanitarian aid as punishment.

But the Israeli public broadcaster says that will not happen now that more bodies have been returned.

Image source, Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Three of the four deceased hostages returned to Israel by Hamas late on Tuesday evening have been named.

Families of Tamir Nimrodi, Eitan Levi and Uriel Baruch have confirmed their remains have been identified, according to statements released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

A fourth body transferred to Israel has yet to be named.

It was the second group of deceased hostages returned to Israel since the start of the ceasefire. On Monday four were returned - their identities were confirmed on Tuesday.

The remains of 20 more hostages are believed to still be in Gaza - and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum says it "will not rest until all 20 hostages are brought home".

Image source, Reuters

Late on Tuesday night the bodies of four more deceased hostages were brought back to Israel, the Israeli military said - three of which have since been named.

Pressure is growing on Hamas and the Israeli government over the remains of 20 hostages which Hamas is yet to return.

Palestinians are increasingly worried that a delay in the return could bring uncertainty to the ceasefire's future.

The latest return on Tuesday night comes after Israel warned it would restrict aid into Gaza and delay the reopening of the Rafah crossing, until Hamas returned the bodies of all 28 deceased hostages.

So far, all 20 living hostages have been returned, as have the remains of eight dead hostages.

Meanwhile both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have pressed Hamas to give up their arms.

This is something the group has previously refused to do, unless a Palestinian state is established.