Hamas claims Israel’s block on heavy machinery entering Gaza affecting efforts to extract hostages’ bodies

Hamas claims Israel’s blocking of heavy machinery entering Gaza to clear rubble caused by war is affecting efforts to extract the bodies of hostages held since October 7, 2023.

“Preventing the entry of heavy equipment and machinery needed to remove 55 million tons of rubble… will undoubtedly affect the resistance’s ability to extract from under the rubble the dead prisoners (hostages),” Salama Marouf, spokesman for the terror group’s media office in Gaza, tells journalists.

The comment comes as Israel waits for Hamas to provide a list of the three male hostages slated for release tomorrow, as part of an ongoing ceasefire deal with the Palestinian terror group. According to the terms of the deal, the list was meant to be sent to Israel via mediators by 4 p.m.

Seventy-six of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas has so far released 18 hostages — civilians, soldiers and Thai nationals — during the ceasefire that began in January. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.

Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.