Hamas says it has handed over all hostage remains it can reach

Thirteen Israeli hostages released by the Al-Qassam Brigades are handed over to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) teams in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. Photo / Getty Images

Hamas says it has handed back the remains of all the deceased hostages that it can reach, as the Israeli military said the Red Cross had received two more bodies in Gaza.

Since Monday, under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has handed back 20 surviving hostages to Israel in exchange for nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.

Before the two bodies were handed over late on Wednesday, Hamas had already returned the remains of seven of 28 known deceased hostages – with an eighth body which Israel said was not that of a former hostage.

But late on Wednesday, the Palestinian Islamist movement’s armed wing said it had transferred all the bodies it could find and would need specialist recovery equipment to retrieve the rest from Gaza’s ruins.

“The Resistance has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement by handing over all living Israeli prisoners in its custody, as well as the corpses it could access,” the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on social media.

“As for the remaining corpses, it requires extensive efforts and special equipment for their retrieval and extraction. We are exerting great effort in order to close this file,” it added.

The announcement came as the Israeli military said “two coffins of deceased hostages” had been transferred into the custody of the Red Cross and were on their way to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the hostages,” a joint statement from the Israeli military and security agency said.

There is now domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory.

-Agence France-Presse