Hamas: ’Israel’ Exploiting Captive Body Delays to Violate Truce
By Staff, Agencies
A senior Hamas official confirmed "Israel" is obstructing efforts to locate and return captive bodies in Gaza, blaming its widespread destruction of the territory and recent decisions to close the Rafah crossing and reduce humanitarian aid deliveries.
The official said many captives and their Palestinian guards were killed during "Israel’s" strikes, causing loss of communication with units responsible for the bodies.
He placed responsibility for the deaths and missing bodies, believed to be buried under rubble along with thousands of civilians, on "Israeli" so-called prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his cabinet, and the "Israeli" occupation forces [IOF].
The official made the remarks in an interview Tuesday, following "Israel’s" decision to close the Rafah crossing and reduce humanitarian aid deliveries -- moves Hamas says violate the terms of the recent ceasefire agreement.
Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, had previously warned that "Israeli" attacks risked killing captives, but the strikes continued unabated, the source said. “The main difficulty in finding the bodies is losing contact with the guards because the 'Israelis' killed them,” he added.
He stressed that the presence of the IOF and their indiscriminate attacks made it harder to locate the bodies, requiring more time and effort.
Despite the challenges, Hamas remains committed to returning the remains of all captives and is cooperating with international parties involved in the agreement, even amid last-minute changes to captive lists.
Hamas has already fulfilled its part by releasing all 20-remaining living "Israeli" captives and four coffins of deceased captives. However, the timing for releasing the bodies of 28 captives declared dead remains unclear.
"Israel" seized the opportunity on Tuesday to tighten its grip on Gaza by violating the terms of the recently brokered ceasefire, using delays in the return of captive bodies as justification for keeping the Rafah crossing closed and halving the flow of humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.
The IOF also martyred at least nine people in the Palestinian territory, bringing the ceasefire under growing strain.
While mediators had hoped the ceasefire would stabilize conditions on the ground, "Israel’s" latest violations signaled a return to pressure tactics, raising fears that the genocide could soon resume amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The Hamas official condemned "Israel's" decision to keep the Rafah crossing closed, considering it a serious infringement of the agreement that would further impede rescue and aid efforts, and called on mediators to intervene immediately to resolve the matter.
"Israel" has decided to reduce the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza by half, in a move confirmed by the United Nations.
COGAT, the "Israeli" body reporting on aid deliveries into Gaza, has also informed the UN that no fuel or gas will be permitted into the territory, except for specific humanitarian infrastructure needs.
It blamed Hamas for the decision to limit aid trucks to 300 daily, citing the slow release of captives’ bodies, claiming that Hamas violated the agreement regarding the release of the bodies of the captives held in the Gaza Strip.
As a result, the political leadership has decided to impose a number of sanctions related to the humanitarian agreement that was reached," a COGAT note claimed.
Hamas and "Israel" exchanged captives with detainees on Monday as part of a ceasefire deal to end the occupying entity's genocidal war on Gaza.
A day after receiving all living "Israeli" captives, "Israel" announced that the Rafah crossing would remain closed through Wednesday, restricting the flow of critical humanitarian aid into Gaza in violation of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
