Hamas Members Enter 'Yellow Line' Area to Search for Hostage Bodies

On Monday, members of the Hamas movement entered areas of the Gaza Strip under the de facto control of the Israeli Army (IDF) to search for the remains of Israeli hostages.

Operation Details and Commitment to the Agreement

• Location of Entry: An informed source confirmed to Sky News Arabia that Hamas elements entered the Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City, an area located inside the so-called "Yellow Line" controlled by the Israeli military.

• Sunday's Handover: This step follows the handover of the remains of three deceased hostages held in Gaza to Israel on Sunday, under the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on October 10th.

• Handover Mechanism: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that Israel received the coffins of three deceased hostages via the Red Cross, which were then delivered to the IDF and Shin Bet forces inside the Gaza Strip.

• Search Difficulty: Hamas is still holding 48 hostages, 20 of whom are alive. Under the agreement, the movement is supposed to hand over the bodies of 28 hostages, having returned 20 remains so far. Hamas emphasizes the difficulty of locating and extracting remains amidst the massive destruction in the Gaza Strip.

• Hamas Commitment: The movement's spokesman, Hazen Qassem, confirmed that Sunday's handover "comes within the context of Hamas's firm commitment to complete the exchange process, and exert every effort to hand over all remains as quickly as possible."

Israeli Frustration and Delay in Delivery

• Government Frustration: The delay in the handover of the hostages' bodies has caused frustration within the Israeli government.

• Families' Demands: On Sunday, the Hostages Families Forum urged Netanyahu, in a post on X, to "act firmly" to ensure the immediate fulfillment of Hamas's obligations under the agreement and the return of all deceased hostages to Israel.