Sources reveal the reasons for the delay in finding the bodies of Israeli prisoners in Gaza.

Sources within the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas revealed on Tuesday the reasons for the delay in finding the remaining bodies of Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, following the movement's delivery of 8 bodies in two batches through the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The British website "Middle East Eye" quoted a source in Hamas stating that "the indiscriminate destruction carried out by the Israeli occupation army in Gaza is behind the delay in finding the bodies of the prisoners," noting that "with 10,000 Palestinians under the rubble, finding the bodies of the prisoners requires time and effort."

The same source held the Israeli occupation responsible for the delay in determining the location of the missing prisoners' bodies in Gaza and returning them.

This came after Israeli officials stated that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would remain closed on Wednesday, amid accusations that Hamas was retaining the bodies of prisoners it had pledged to return as part of a peace agreement mediated by the United States that halted the two-year war.

However, the Hamas source told "Middle East Eye" that its negotiators clearly confirmed during the talks that the presence of Israeli forces, Israeli attacks, and the genocide and indiscriminate destruction that caused widespread devastation would complicate the task of locating the bodies of the deceased prisoners, requiring more time and effort.

The source said: "They made it clear during the negotiations that it would require significant time and effort after the withdrawal of Israeli forces to gather information about the bodies."

The signed agreement included a clear clause in this regard, with clause 5 stating: "Establishing a mechanism for exchanging information between the two sides, through intermediaries and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to exchange intelligence regarding any deceased prisoner not recovered within 72 hours or the remains of Gaza residents held by Tel Aviv."

The site continued: "This mechanism includes the complete and safe extraction of all Israeli prisoners' remains and their release, and Hamas will make every effort to ensure that these commitments are fulfilled as soon as possible."

Hamas had released on Monday 20 living prisoners who had been held for more than two years, in addition to the bodies of four deceased prisoners, and on Tuesday four additional bodies were delivered, leaving about 20 Israeli bodies remaining, according to estimates from the occupation army.