According to their sources, the necessary equipment for these works will also be sent to the enclave. No further details have yet been provided.

On October 13, the Palestinian movement Hamas and its allies, in accordance with the Gaza ceasefire agreement, released the remaining 20 Israeli hostages. That night, the first four coffins containing the remains of the deceased hostages were delivered to the Israeli side through the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Israeli authorities expressed their discontent that the radicals have only returned four of the 28 bodies in the first stage of returning the remains. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called this a deviation from the agreement and warned that further delays by the radicals would have consequences.

In total, Israel has received 14 coffins with the bodies of the deceased hostages. Thirteen bodies have been identified. Thus, according to the Israeli side, Hamas continues to hold the bodies of 15 hostages.

As the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on October 17, citing Hamas sources, Palestinian radicals would need to carry out a “large-scale search operation” to locate the remaining bodies of the hostages in Gaza. According to the publication’s sources, the search process is complicated by the fact that Hamas supporters who knew where the remains were buried died in the fighting. Furthermore, some areas of the enclave where the bodies were believed to be buried were completely destroyed and razed by the Israeli army, making access extremely difficult.