GAZA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Hamas source said on Tuesday that Israel has rejected the entry of teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Palestinian factions into eastern Gaza City to search for the remains of Israeli captives.
"Israel is deliberately putting obstacles in front of the search operations and fabricating false claims about the bodies to serve its aggressive intentions," the source, who asked not to be named, told Xinhua.
Eyewitnesses and local sources said heavy machinery sent by Egypt, accompanied by ICRC staff and armed members of Palestinian factions, waited for several hours on the outskirts of Gaza City's Shuja'iyya neighbourhood for Israeli army coordination but later withdrew without entering the area.
The Israeli army has not commented on the incident. However, Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported that Israel decided to suspend Hamas's field tours with the Red Cross in areas under its control in Gaza.
Israel said on Tuesday that the remains handed over by Hamas on Monday night were in fact body parts belonging to a hostage whose body had been recovered by the Israeli army around two years ago. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the issue "a violation of ceasefire" and held an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon over a potential response.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem on Tuesday reaffirmed the movement's commitment to the ceasefire and the handover of Israeli captives' remains, accusing Netanyahu of trying to undermine the agreement "with baseless excuses."
Qassem said Hamas was continuing its field efforts to recover the bodies "around the clock" while Israel "is unhappy with the progress of the agreement and is placing obstacles in the way," adding that Israeli restrictions have created "major difficulties" for the searches.
On Monday night, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, handed over to the ICRC the remains of another Israeli captive, which were later taken to Tel Aviv for forensic identification. A Hamas source said the body was retrieved from the Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.
Netanyahu's office said Tuesday that what Hamas returned were partial remains of the deceased hostage Ofir Tzarfati, whose body Israel says had already been recovered in Gaza and brought back to Israel in December 2023. ■
