Hamas affirms commitment to agreement, delivery of all hostages 

Early today, Hamas stated in a press release that "the return of the remains of the Israeli captives may take some time, as some were buried in tunnels destroyed by the occupation, and others are still under the rubble of buildings that were bombed and demolished," emphasizing that it "reaffirms its commitment to the agreement and its keenness to implement it and deliver all remaining bodies."

Hamas added that the remains of the Israeli hostages "that it has managed to reach have been handed over directly, while retrieving the remaining bodies requires equipment and devices to remove the rubble, which are currently unavailable due to the occupation preventing their entry."

The movement warned that "any delay in delivering the bodies is the full responsibility of the Netanyahu government, which is obstructing and preventing the provision of the necessary capabilities for that."

Hamas’s statement came after Israel accused it of violating the ceasefire agreement, which stipulates the return of all hostages, alive and dead, within 72 hours of its implementation—by Monday afternoon.

Hamas released the 20 living hostages in exchange for Israel freeing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, but the movement has handed over only nine bodies out of 28 hostages.

On Thursday, Turkey announced that it had sent a team of specialists to help search for the hostages’ bodies in Gaza.

Also on Thursday, the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons called on the Israeli government to delay the next phases of the agreement with Hamas if the 19 remaining bodies were not handed over.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened yesterday to resume the attack on Gaza if Hamas did not comply with the agreement.

In a statement, he said: "If Hamas refuses to comply with the agreement, Israel, in coordination with the United States, will resume fighting and will work to deliver a complete defeat to Hamas, change the reality in Gaza, and achieve all the objectives of the war."

Katz’s statement came after the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, announced that it had handed over all the remains of hostages it could access and that it would need special equipment to retrieve the rest.

A-H 

ANHA