CAIRO — Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the recovery of all Israeli hostage remains will be a challenge that takes time because of the compromised conditions on the ground in Gaza.
“Collecting the remains will take some time because they are under rubble and you have a lot of explosive materials, devices under the rubble. So reaching them will be a bit difficult. But we are doing our utmost,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
The difficulty in accessing the remains has been clear since ceasefire negotiations began in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, said Abdelatty. Egypt is a key mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks.
He said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi “spoke very openly that there are some impediments on the ground and we need to do extra efforts to find, discover and collect the remains of the bodies.”
The foreign minister also reiterated the need to deliver aid into the enclave for the ceasefire plan to advance effectively.
“We are expecting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the opening up of the crossings, as soon as possible. That’s very important.”
“We need literally to flood Gaza with food and with relief and materials,” He said, adding that the toll of the war is felt across the region.
Abdelatty said he expects the second phase of negotiations to be tough but added that he believes an agreement to be achievable so long as all members of the international community, including US President Donald Trump, remain engaged.
As the dispute over the return of deceased hostages continued, the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza remains closed to trucks and people.
The crossing was set to open to civilian traffic in both directions as part of the ceasefire agreement, but Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said on Thursday that the date of the opening “will be announced at a later stage.”
Although Reuters video has shown trucks lined up at the Rafah crossing, COGAT said the checkpoint is only for the passage of people.
“It should be emphasized that humanitarian aid will not pass through the Rafah Crossing. This was never agreed upon at any stage,” said COGAT in a statement.
“Preparations for the opening of the Rafah Crossing for the movement of people are ongoing in full coordination between Israel and Egypt, in accordance with the signed agreement.”
Instead, humanitarian aid has crossed into Gaza through checkpoints in Israel. But instead of the agreed upon 600 trucks, only 300 entered on Wednesday, according to an Israeli official, as a way of pressuring Hamas to turn over the bodies of more deceased hostages.
Israel is considering further measures against Hamas, such as more restrictions on aid or reoccupying the Netzarim corridor, which splits Gaza between north and south.
Israel believes that Hamas knows the locations of some of the deceased hostages that it claims are missing, according to two Israeli sources familiar with the matter, as the dispute continues over the return of the bodies.
So far, Hamas has returned the bodies of nine of the 28 deceased hostages.
One of the sources said Israel believes Hamas has access to at least six other bodies, and possibly more than that. The source said Israel knows that five of the bodies “have disappeared,” while there is an ongoing dispute with Hamas about the bodies of several other deceased hostages.
But Hamas denies knowing the locations or being able to access more of the deceased hostages.
Hamas’ military wing said on Wednesday that “significant efforts and special equipment” are needed to recover the bodies of the remaining hostages in Gaza. In a statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades said that it had “abided by what was agreed upon, and has handed over all the living captives in its possession and the corpses it could access.”
Israel and Hamas had agreed upon a mechanism for searching for the remains of bodies whose whereabouts are unknown, but this mechanism has not begun operating. — CNN