Hamas to Hand Over Bodies of Two Israeli Captives Tonight

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that it had handed over the bodies of two more Israeli prisoners this evening. This announcement comes as a continuation of the handover of previous bodies within the framework of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

In a brief statement published on its Telegram channel, the Brigades stated that it had extracted the two bodies from the Gaza Strip, and that the handover process would take place at 10:00 pm local time (7:00 pm GMT).

In contrast, the Israeli authorities continue to close the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, justifying this by not receiving the bodies of all the Israeli prisoners who died.

Earlier, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he had issued instructions to keep the Rafah crossing closed until further notice. The statement added that the reopening of the crossing would be subject to an assessment of Hamas’ commitment to returning the bodies of the dead hostages and implementing the terms of the agreement.

Israeli threats

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a high-level government official as saying that the government is considering imposing additional sanctions on Hamas if it does not continue to hand over the bodies of Israeli prisoners.

The official also added that Netanyahu is considering re-evaluating the withdrawal lines for the Israeli army forces if the bodies are not handed over before the date that will be determined later.

On another level, the families of the Israeli prisoners called for the continuation of organizing demonstrations and protests until the bodies of all the prisoners held in Gaza are recovered. The Prisoners’ Families Authority confirmed that the recovery of the bodies is the responsibility of the Israeli government, and it must make the necessary efforts to achieve this.

Several road intersections in various parts of Israel witnessed gatherings of Israeli demonstrators, who carried pictures of the dead prisoners.

In contrast, the Al-Qassam Brigades affirmed its full commitment to implementing the terms of the ceasefire agreement, and that it had handed over all the bodies it was able to reach. It explained that searching for the rest of the bodies and extracting them requires great efforts and specialized equipment.

It is worth mentioning that the ceasefire agreement came into effect on the tenth of October, but the Israeli army continues to bomb various areas in the sector from time to time. In addition, all border crossings have not yet been opened to allow humanitarian aid to enter, in accordance with the terms of the agreement.