Gaza city: The Palestinian group Hamas announced that the planned handover of the body of an Israeli captive has been postponed due to what it describes as violations of the ceasefire agreement by Tel Aviv.

According to Anadolu Agency, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, issued a statement warning that any escalation by Israel would hinder ongoing search and excavation operations. This, they claim, will delay the retrieval of bodies and subsequently the return of the remains of Israeli captives.

Hamas had initially planned to transfer the remains of the Israeli body at 8 pm local time (1800GMT) as part of a ceasefire deal, which has been in effect since October 10.