The Israeli Army confirmed to families of four hostages the return of their bodies after the deadline given to Hamas to hand over all 28 remains of its victims. According to information from the local press, so far, only the names of two of them have been released: Guy Illouz, 26, and Bipin Joshi, 24.
The return of just four bodies of hostages was met with indignation by families and protesters in Israel, who demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government take a stricter stance on the terrorists’ compliance with the agreement.
In response, the Israeli government’s hostage representative, Gal Hirsch, declared that pressure on Hamas will continue and “intensify” until the group fulfills its commitments made in the ceasefire.
“We will continue and intensify pressure on Hamas until the return of the hostages is completed,” he said, adding that “the issue was discussed yesterday in talks between the prime minister and the president [Donald] Trump, and it was also expressed last night in the president’s words [egípcio] [Abdel Fattah] El-Sissi. “
According to the Israeli representative, other international fronts and mediators were also contacted and are aware of the urgent demand. “I am in constant contact with our representatives in the negotiations and have been updated on the details. The issue is at the heart of the agenda,” said Hirsch.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday (14) that it should take “some time” to locate all the bodies of hostages in the Gaza Strip.
“It’s an even bigger challenge than freeing people alive. It’s a huge challenge,” said ICRC spokesman Christian Cardon, adding that it could take “days or weeks” for this to be completed, with some people possibly never being found.
The Forum for Missing Hostages and Family Members renewed its appeal on Tuesday, saying Hamas’ lack of action should be understood as a breach of the agreement. “An agreement must be maintained by both sides; its non-compliance and Hamas’s failure to return the hostages must be met by stopping the continued implementation of the agreement by the Israeli government and the mediators.”
