Türkiye has deployed 81 disaster relief experts to the Gaza Strip, including specialists tasked with locating the remains of 19 hostages who are still missing, a Defense Ministry source said Thursday.
“There is already a team of 81 AFAD personnel on the ground,” the source said, referring to Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), adding that “one of the teams will focus on searching for and recovering the bodies.”
"The tasks are known: transmitting humanitarian aid, finding corpses and protecting the cease-fire. But there is no clear information on how to handle these tasks," the ministry source said.
Asked whether Turkish military forces could get involved, the source said it would be "more the task of civilian entities like AFAD," but in theory, the military could help out if needed.
AFAD rescue workers are accustomed to operating in difficult terrain and have responded to numerous earthquakes that have shaken Türkiye, including the one in February 2023 in the southeast of the country, which killed at least 53,000 people.
AFAD says it has carried out rescue and humanitarian aid missions in more than 50 countries on five continents in recent years, including Somalia, the Palestinian territories, Ecuador, the Philippines, Nepal, Yemen, Mozambique, and Chad.
Hamas said Wednesday it has returned to Israel the remains of all deceased hostages it could access, noting that more recoveries will require special equipment, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he may allow Israeli forces to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to honor the cease-fire deal.
"Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word. If Israel could go in and knock the crap of them, they’d do that," Trump was quoted as saying to CNN in a brief telephone call when asked what would happen if Hamas refused to disarm.
Hamas said it has handed back to Israel the remains of all the deceased hostages that it can reach, and that it will need special recovery equipment to reach more bodies promised under a cease-fire deal.
"The Resistance has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement by handing over all living Israeli prisoners in its custody, as well as the corpses it could access," the Palestinian resistance movement's armed wing said in a statement on social media.
"As for the remaining corpses, it requires extensive efforts and special equipment for their retrieval and extraction. We are exerting great effort in order to close this file."
