Israel announced on Tuesday afternoon, October 21, that it had recovered, through the International Red Cross, two bodies of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, within the framework of the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli forces “recovered, through the Red Cross, the remains of two hostages in coffins. They were handed over to a joint IDF (Israeli Army) and Shin Bet force inside Gaza,” according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Hamas returned these remains to officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) so that they could be transferred to Israel through the Kissufim border crossing in the central Gaza Strip.
So far, Hamas has handed over 15 hostage remains of the 28 it holds in Gaza. The Islamist movement has pledged to return them all to Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Threats to ceasefire
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said this Wednesday night, October 15, that Israel would resume fighting in the Gaza Strip if Hamas did not respect the ceasefire agreementbelieving that he had not returned all the hostage remains.
Hamas had previously claimed to have handed over to Israel all the hostage remains it had been able to access, citing limitations on “extracting” the bodies. “We have fulfilled our commitment under the agreement by handing over all Israeli prisoners alive, as well as the bodies we were able to access,” the Islamist movement said in a statement cited by AFP.
“As for the remaining remains, their recovery and extraction requires considerable effort and special equipment,” he added.
Source: BFM TV
