CAIRO, October 18. /TASS/. The evacuation of injured and sick Palestinians from Gaza can only take place after the Palestinian movement Hamas returns the bodies of all deceased hostages to Israel, Governor of Egypt’s North Sinai Province Khaled Megawer told TASS.
"I have no expectations <…> until Hamas finds all the dead bodies of the Israelis," he said. The official added that, once evacuation from Gaza becomes possible, patients will be distributed among hospitals in North Sinai Province or, depending on their condition, sent to other provinces or to the Egyptian capital.
Megawer also noted that the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border will be overseen by security forces of the Palestinian National Authority and staff from the EU mission.
On the morning of October 13, according to Gaza peace agreement arrangements, Hamas and its allies released 20 remaining Israeli hostages who were still alive. That evening, the first four coffins containing the remains of deceased abductees were handed over to Israel via the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Israeli authorities immediately expressed dissatisfaction that, in the first stage of returning the remains, only 4 of 28 bodies had been returned. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz called this a breach of the agreement and warned that further delays by the militants would have consequences. On October 14, four more coffins were handed over to Israel, on October 15 the remains of two hostages were returned, and on October 17, according to the militants, the body of another hostage was delivered.