JERUSALEM: Israel’s army said Sunday it was holding the bodies of five Palestinian militants found after it blew up a tunnel last week stretching from the Gaza Strip into its territory.
The military stressed that the bodies were found in Israeli territory following the operation to blow up the tunnel that left 12 militants dead.
It did not say what conditions it would place on the return of the bodies, but public radio said information would be sought on Israelis missing in Gaza.
“We are indeed in possession of those bodies of five terrorists,” military spokesman Jonathan Conricus told AFP.
“All were killed or died inside Israeli territory, not in the Gaza Strip.”
Israel blew up the tunnel on October 30 after monitoring it for some time, saying it had no choice but to act after “the grave and unacceptable violation of Israeli sovereignty.”
Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, has used such tunnels to carry out attacks in the past.
Two of the 12 dead belonged to the military wing of Hamas, with the other 10 from Islamic Jihad.
The remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in the 2014 Gaza war are thought to still be in the Gaza Strip.
Three Israeli civilians are also believed held in Gaza, all said to have mental health issues.
Israel says army holding bodies of 5 Gaza militants after tunnel blast
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