The militant group’s statement released in the early hours on Friday follows a dire warning from US President Donald Trump that he would green-light Israel to resume the war if Hamas doesn’t live up to its end of the deal and return all of the hostages’ bodies.
Hamas, however, maintains that some bodies were buried in tunnels that were later destroyed by Israel, and heavy machinery is required to dig through rubble to retrieve them. The group also criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his call to cut aid to Gaza, saying it was an attempt to manipulate humanitarian needs “for political gains.”
The ceasefire plan introduced by Trump had called for all hostages -living and dead-to be handed over by a deadline that expired Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible. Netanyahu has said that Israel “will not compromise” and demanded that Hamas fulfill the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal about the return of hostages’ bodies.
Obstacles to retrieving bodies
Hamas has assured the US through intermediaries that it’s working to return dead hostages. American officials say retrieval of the bodies is hampered by the scope of the devastation in the territory, coupled with the presence of dangerous, unexploded ordnance. The militant group has also told mediators that some bodies are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.On Wednesday, Israel received the remains of two more hostages shortly after its military said that one of eight bodies previously handed over wasn’t that of a hostage. Israel awaits in total the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.
Hamas released all 20 living Israeli hostages on Monday. In exchange, Israel freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israel has also returned to Gaza the bodies of 90 Palestinians for burial.
Israel is expected to turn over more bodies, though officials have not said how many are in its custody or how many will be returned.
