KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war so far, Gaza health officials said Saturday, as both sides completed the latest exchange of bodies under the terms of the tenuous ceasefire.

The militants are refusing to disarm, and Israel has threatened to resume the war. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas fighters holed up in the Israeli-held Rafah area of Gaza would surrender their arms in exchange for passage to other areas of the enclave under a proposal to resolve an issue seen as a risk to the month-old truce,

The presence of the militants, who have killed three Israeli troops, is threatening to unravel the fragile cease-fire.

Hamas has returned the body of 19-year-old New York City native Itay Chen, the last remaining American hostage in Gaza, following the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel.

Hamas said it would consider giving up missiles and rockets as part of a ceasefire with Israel, a sign the group is prepared to make further concessions toward the US-brokered roadmap for peace.

"The enemy must know that the concept of surrender and handing oneself over does not exist in the dictionary of the Al-Qassam Brigades," the group said. Hamas terrorists holed up in the Israeli-held Rafah area of Gaza will not surrender to Israel,

Braslavski and Cohen spoke alongside family members of hostages whose remains are yet to be returned to Israel for burial. Former hostages Rom Braslavski and Nimrod Cohen spoke at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv,