The resistance intensifies efforts to recover the bodies of Israeli prisoners and American pressure to accelerate them news

A leading source in the Palestinian resistance told Al Jazeera that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the rest of the factions are making intense efforts to complete the recovery of the bodies of the Israeli prisoners as soon as possible, amid American pressure to accelerate these efforts.

The same source added that the only obstacle to completing the process of recovering the bodies of the occupation prisoners is the lack of necessary capabilities and equipment. It is likely that a significant number of the bodies of the occupation prisoners will be recovered if the required mechanisms and capabilities are available.

For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Hamas to accelerate the process of handing over the bodies of Israeli prisoners.

Rubio said, in statements on board the presidential plane accompanied by the US President, that Israel did not violate the ceasefire agreement, and that there are obligations on both parties under the agreement.

For his part, Trump said that the United States wants Hamas to speed up the delivery of the bodies of Israeli prisoners.

Israel’s position

An informed Israeli source told Channel 12 that Israel’s patience is running out and that it has begun to consider ways of working if the bodies are not returned.

The source claimed that Hamas was stalling to prolong the first phase of the deal, and pointed out that Israel and Hamas exchanged intelligence information through mediators about possible locations of the bodies of prisoners, while the Egyptian team allowed to enter Gaza went to search for them.

These statements came after the Red Cross entered the areas west of Rafah for the first time, yesterday, Sunday, as part of the mission to search for the bodies of Israeli prisoners. The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that the entry of the Red Cross team was with the Hamas movement.

On the other hand, Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that a number of heavy vehicles from Egypt entered the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Shalom crossing, including excavators, bulldozers, and transport trucks. On Saturday, another number of vehicles entered the south and center of the Strip.

Trying to close the file

On October 10, the first phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel entered into force.

Since the 13th of this month, Hamas has released the 20 living Israeli prisoners, and handed over the bodies of 16 prisoners, leaving 12 remaining.

The movement confirms that it seeks to close the file, and needs time to search for the rest of the bodies and remove them in light of the massive destruction caused by the Israeli war of annihilation since October 7, 2023.

The extermination war left 68,527 Palestinian martyrs, 170,395 injured, most of them children and women, and 90% of the infrastructure destroyed, with the cost of reconstruction estimated by the United Nations at about 70 billion dollars.