Hamas Offers Cooperation to Retrieve Israeli Soldiers’ Bodies as Israel Blocks Forensic Tools and Fuels Media Incitement
Gaza (QNN)- Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Saturday its readiness to coordinate the retrieval of Israeli soldiers’ bodies located within Gaza’s “yellow zone.” The resistance group urged international mediators and the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide the necessary teams and equipment to conduct the recovery operations simultaneously across all sites.
Al-Qassam stated that its goal is to “bring this file to a close” and avoid any delay in returning the remains. The group added that it had offered to hand over three unidentified body samples on Friday to facilitate the process, but Israel initially refused to receive them and insisted on full bodies for testing. “We handed them over anyway to block Israel’s false claims,” the statement read.
According to Haaretz, Israel had already been notified in advance that Hamas was unsure of the identity of the remains. However, Channel 12, Israel’s top-rated news outlet, reported that forensic tests confirmed the remains did not belong to any of the 11 known Israeli soldier prisoners.
While Israeli media quickly turned the report into another wave of incitement, observers pointed to Israel’s own policies as the reason behind the confusion. Associated Press reported on October 24 that Israel blocks all DNA-testing materials from entering Gaza. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also confirmed that Israel prevents the entry of equipment needed to exhume bodies and identify victims, including laboratory tools, autopsy instruments, and DNA analysis kits.
The pattern is not new. On October 29, when Hamas returned a body that turned out not to be the captive Israel expected, the Israeli army launched a deadly bombardment across Gaza. The attacks killed 109 Palestinians, including 46 children, 20 women, and 7 people with disabilities, according to health authorities.
