The IDF has refused to allow Hamas retrieve the bodies of terrorists that were killed in the terror tunnel bombed by Israel on Monday unless Hamas releases more information regarding the bodies of slain IDF soldiers killed in 2014's Operation Protective Edge.
Hamas had appealed to Israel through the Red Cross on Wednesday and requested permission to retrieve the bodies of terrorists who died from smoke inhalation after the IDF blew up a terror tunnel from Khan Yunis, in Gaza, into Israel on Monday.
The terror group is unable to reach the bodies due to Israel's ban on Gazans from coming with 300 meters of Israel's security perimeter on the border.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Major General Yoav Mordechai, responded that Israel would refuse the request unless Hamas would share information regarding the bodies of slain IDF soldiers it has been holding since 2014.
Hamas has been holding the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.
In addition, two Israeli civilians who went missing in Gaza - Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed - are believed to be held by Hamas as well.
A slew of leftist organizations appealed to the Attorney General and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories on Thursday to demand that the IDF allow the Palestinian rescue and rescue teams to enter the Gaza Strip and locate the bodies, contending that the refusal to do so violates international law.
"The rescue teams cannot reach the missing people due to Israeli army's ban on Palestinians from approaching 300 meters from the fence despite this being an area within Gaza," wrote Muna Haddad from Adalah.
"To prevent them from locating and rescuing those missing in the area currently under the control of the Israeli army is a blatantly illegal policy and contravenes both Israeli and international law and violates the Geneva Convention."