The armed wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced the identities of four hostages whose bodies they will return to Israel, through the Red Cross, this Monday (13): Guy Illouz, Yossi Sharabi, Bipin Joshi and Daniel Peretz.
The measure, however, is seen by Israel as a violation of the agreement, as the terrorists were supposed to return the bodies of 28 victims. As a result, the whereabouts of 24 hostages remain unknown.
The Israeli Army confirmed the handover of 20 survivors of captivity in Gaza on Monday morning and said it had been notified that the remains of four hostages would be returned later that day.
Brigadier General Effie Defrin, Israel’s main military spokeswoman, stated that efforts continue, at all levels, to press for the continuation of the hostage release process. “We demand that Hamas fulfills its part of the agreement. We will not forget them for a moment; we will not rest until they all find their families and are buried in Israel.”
Israel Katz, Israeli Defense Minister, stated on social media that if Hamas is intentionally delaying the return of bodies, it will be considered a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
“Hamas’ announcement of the expected return of four hostages today constitutes a failure to fulfill its commitments,” wrote the Israeli minister, signaling that Israel may react to this failure.
The terrorist group has previously claimed that it does not know the location of some of the bodies of the 28 hostages killed during the war. Therefore, the parties gave the green light in the agreement to authorize an international entity to participate in the search for bodies that Hamas did not hand over this Monday.
The families of the Israeli hostages had already anticipated that they were informed of the return of only four bodies of hostages. “We are deeply moved and dismayed by the news that today only four bodies of the dead hostages will be handed over, out of the 28 that Hamas holds,” the Family Forum said in a statement.
Furthermore, the families denounced that this constitutes a “blatant breach of the agreement by Hamas” and demanded that both the Israeli government and the mediators take “immediate action to correct this serious injustice.”
The four dead hostages who will be returned this Monday (13)
Guy Illouz, aged 26, was kidnapped at the Nova music festival, in the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023.
Bipin Joshi24, was kidnapped from Alumin kibbutz; while Yossi Sharabi, aged 53, he was kidnapped from kibbutz Beeri; and Daniel Peretzaged 22, was taken hostage near the border with Gaza.
While Sharabi, Illouz and Joshi died inside Gaza, Peretz died in the Gaza Terrasite attack itself on October 7, 2023, according to the newspaper Times of Israel.
