Hamas says return of Israeli hostages' bodies may take time

CAIRO - Hamas said on Thursday the return of Israeli hostages' bodies may take time as some were buried in tunnels destroyed by Israel and others remain under the rubble of buildings that Israel bombed and destroyed, adding the group remained committed to the Gaza agreement and keen to hand over all the remaining bodies of the hostages held in Gaza.

The retrieval of the remaining bodies required equipment to remove rubble, which was currently unavailable due to Israel’s ban on entry of such tools, Hamas added.