Hamas expands search for remains of hostages

Thirteen more bodies must be returned to Israel under the ceasefire agreement.

- BY SAMY MAGDY AND MELANIE LIDMAN

MACHINERY and workers from Egypt excavate in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, searching for hostages' bodies.

(JEHAD ALSHRAFI Associated Press)

Hamas has expanded its search for bodies of hostages in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian group said Sunday, a day after Egypt deployed a team of experts and heavy equipment to help retrieve them.

Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which took effect Oct. 10, Hamas is expected to return the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. Israel has agreed to return 15 bodies of Palestinians for each one.

Children and others watched the Egyptian equipment claw through the sand near badly damaged buildings in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Hamas has returned the remains of 15 hostages but hasn't handed over any in five days. Israel has returned the bodies of 195 Palestinians, many of them unidentified.

More complicated steps lie ahead under the ceasefire plan, including the disarming of Hamas and the postwar governance of famine-stricken Gaza, where the United Nations and partners continue to urge Israel to allow in more humanitarian aid.

International news reporters have been barred from Gaza aside from brief visits with Israel's military, and Israel said Sunday that hadn't changed.