Among the tens of thousands of tons of rubble that make up the Gaza Stripthey are looking 13 bodies. The corpses of last Israeli hostages dead that remain to be released have inspired dozens of initiatives to find them. After Israel allowed in a team of Egyptian specialists, it has also let Hamas join them and Red Cross in areas under the control of their Army to help recover the bodies. The Forum of Families of Hostages and Disappeared Persons has put pressure on the Israeli government and the mediators of the cease-fire to not proceed with a new phase of the truce until the bodies of all captives are returned, stating that Hamas “knows very well” where they are.
“They have passed two weeks from deadline established in the agreement for the return of the 48 hostages, but 13 remain in captivity,” they recalled in a statement this Monday morning. “The families of the hostages urge the Government of Israel and the mediating parties to take immediate and decisive measures to ensure that Hamas fully complies with its commitments and return all the hostages without exception”they have added. Hamas has not returned any bodies for almost a week. Last Tuesday delivered the last one. The Palestinian group says it has not yet been able to locate some of the bodies, and needs help to locate and recover them.
Israel accuses Hamas of lying, claiming that they can deliver more bodies but refuse to do so and hide information about their location. This would mean a direct violation of the ceasefire agreement of hostages that came into force on October 9. The president of the United States, Donald Trumphas made the same accusation. According to The Times of IsraelIsraeli authorities know the location of the remains of at least nine of the 13 captives. To speed up the process, the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved that teams from the Red Cross and Egypt join forces this Sunday to find the bodies. They are working on the Israeli part of the so-called yellow line, in the 53% of Gazan territory under the control of Israeli troops.
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The teams are escorted by Hamas militants in the southern ones Rafah and Jan Yuniswhile Israeli soldiers continue to maintain overall security control. This advance responds to the pressure exerted by Tel Aviv on the mediators, and specifically on its American ally. The Israelis say they are not ready to no talk about the second phase or the remainder of this agreement until the remaining 13 bodies of the captives are returned. Despite Hamas’s plea for help last week, Israeli authorities denied entry to Gaza to a Turkish team of 80 people, Al Jazeera reports.. The pressure from the families of the hostages and Israeli societywho took to the streets en masse again this weekend, have made them change their minds.
Bodies of unidentified Palestinians returned by Israel are buried in a mass grave in Deir el Balah, Gaza, this Monday. / JEHAD ALSHRAFI / AP
The Saudi channel Al Hadath has announced that Cairo is intensifying its recovery and cleanup operations in the Strip, sending 12 heavy vehicles to the enclave this morning to clear the roads and assist in efforts to locate the bodies of the hostages. The entry of more Egyptian equipment, including vehicles, has been carried out with the Israeli approval. Al Jazeera reports that this Monday Hamas informed in a meeting with the Red Cross about the location of the body of Amiram Cooperan octogenarian kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. In March of the following year, Hamas claimed that he had been killed in Israeli airstrikes. The recovery of his body has begun in Khan Yunis, south of the enclave, where heavy machinery has been seen working.
9,000 Palestinians under the rubble
As Israelis have expressed their haste to recover the bodies of their fellow citizens, Palestinians in Gaza have also expressed their urgency. In principle, the return of all the hostages would lead to the beginning of the reconstructionthe reopening of the Rafah crossing and the entry of many more humanitarian aid. Furthermore, many of them await the hope that the recovery of the remains of the Israeli hostages will give way to that of their loved ones. At least 9,000 Palestinians are registered as missing, trapped under the rubbleaccording to the Ministry of Health. Throughout the war, their families have called for heavy machinery to help recover their bodies, and they have dug with palasminimal tools and even with the bare hands to achieve it. But there is no information on whether this machinery can be used for this urgent mission.
The ceasefire continues to hang by a thread in Gaza. In the last 48 hours, eight people have died and 13 others have been injured by Israeli attacks, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed 68.527 personas and injured more than 170,395, thousands of them with lifelong injuries. Furthermore, despite the warning of the International Court of Justice As of last Wednesday, Israeli authorities are not allowing staff from the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees to enter the enclave. UNRWAfor its acronym in English.
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