TEL AVIV (dpa-AFX) – The Israeli military does not assume that the Islamist Hamas will be able to hand over all of the dead hostages on Monday and thus within the agreed 72-hour period. The handover of the survivors is still expected on Monday morning, but there is no fixed date yet, said a military representative. The army is ready to take over the freedmen “at any time” and is prepared for various scenarios.
According to the military, the procedure is likely to be the same as that used for the last hostage shooting: Hamas hands over the released hostages to employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who in turn hand them over to the Israeli military within the coastal strip.
In the reception center, which has been specially developed for the expected group of 20 living hostages, there will be a first reunion with relatives, a medical examination and the opportunity to shower and change clothes. The people will then be flown to various hospitals for further treatment.
Already in the final phase of negotiations on the US peace plan, it was repeatedly stated that Hamas did not know the whereabouts of all the remains of the dead hostages. The Israeli military pointed to Hamas’s commitment under the ceasefire agreement to hand over all 48 hostages, both the living and the dead./czy/DP/zb