ISRAEL has continued to obstruct the implementation of the ceasefire agreement by linking the reopening of the Rafah crossing and the entry of humanitarian aid to the recovery of its soldiers’ remains in Gaza.
Israeli media quoted an official source saying the government would not move forward with the second phase of the deal until ‘all the bodies of the captives are handed over’.
The official said Rafah would remain closed until ‘Hamas intensifies its efforts to retrieve the bodies’.
The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said it had already handed over all the bodies it was able to recover, stressing that locating the rest required heavy machinery to lift debris from destroyed areas.
The group accused Israel of blocking access to the equipment needed for those operations.
Meanwhile, Handicap International has warned that unexploded munitions across Gaza pose a ‘massive danger’ to displaced civilians returning to what remains of their homes.
The organisation called for permission to bring in demining equipment, similar to that previously used by the United Nations.
The warning came days after a ceasefire took effect following more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed over 67,000 Palestinians and left about 42,000 with permanent disabilities, according to the World Health Organisation.
Anne-Claire Yaeesh, the organisation’s director in the occupied Palestinian territories, said the risks were enormous.
‘We estimate that around 70,000 tonnes of explosives have been dropped on Gaza since October 2023. The layers of rubble are extremely thick, and we are facing very serious dangers on terrain that is extremely complex,’ she said.
In January, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimated that between 5 and 10 per cent of the munitions fired on Gaza had not detonated.
The agency said those figures have likely risen as Israeli bombardment continues, including the major assault on Gaza City in September.
UNMAS told reporters that restrictions imposed by Israel have prevented large-scale surveys to assess the full extent of the threat.
The agency said it still lacks a ‘comprehensive picture of the explosives hazard in the Gaza Strip’.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said aid teams have begun assessing explosive risks along main roads but that only a small number of daily checks are possible due to limited armoured vehicles.
UNMAS added that it has yet to receive Israeli authorisation to import clearance equipment, noting that three armoured vehicles are waiting at the border to enter Gaza. The agency said their deployment would allow ‘safer and broader-scale demining operations’.
Handicap International, also known as Humanity & Inclusion, is a humanitarian group specialising in mine clearance and support for victims of explosive weapons.
