Israel has decided not to open the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Wednesday, as required by the ceasefire agreement, thereby imposing sanctions on the Palestinian group Hamas for failing to fulfill its obligation to return the bodies of all deceased Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, reports The Times of Israel.

As part of these sanctions against Hamas, Israel will also reduce the aid provided to Gaza.

These measures were taken after officials from Israel’s Ministry of Defense stated that Hamas has made no significant efforts to return the remaining hostages.

Hamas on Monday released 20 living hostages and handed over the bodies of four deceased ones, although, according to Israeli media, the bodies of 24 hostages remain in Gaza.