The Families Forum (the main Israeli organization fighting for the release of the hostages from the Gaza Strip) today called to suspend the application of the next stages of the ceasefire agreement, as long as Hamas does not hand them over 13 remaining bodies of hostages he holds.

Recalling that, under the terms of the deal, all hostages – living and dead – should have been surrendered two weeks agothe Families Forum in a statement asks “the Israeli government, the US government and the mediators not to move on to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas has fulfilled all its obligations.”

The second phase of the truce agreement mainly provides for the disarmament of Hamas and her granting amnesty or the exile of its fightersas well as its continuation withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, issues that remain under discussion.

Hamas released on October 13 all 20 live hostages it was holding. He was then supposed to hand over the bodies of the 28 dead hostages, but has so far returned only 15 to Israel, saying he is having trouble locating the bodies in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

A team from Egypt “was given permission to enter beyond the yellow line” that defines the Israeli-controlled area of ​​Gaza “to search for our hostages,” said Shosh Bedrossian, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Machinery and workers from Egypt search for the bodies of hostages in the city of Hamad, Khan Younis

“It is difficult to locate some bodies of Israeli hostages because the occupation has changed the relief of Gaza (s.s. during the war). In addition, some people who buried these bodies have been killed or do not remember where they buried them,” Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Haya said on Saturday.

Al-Haya reiterated the Palestinian movement’s intention to return the bodies, despite the problems. “We will not give the (Israeli) occupation a reason to repeat the war,” he stressed.