It's pretty normal for stuff like this to be embedded in potting compound which is like a weak epoxy. The OP won't be pushing or pulling them out of the housing until the majority of that potting compound is removed. If the OP jabs it with a soldering iron that usually makes it brittle and it can be chipped out with a dental pick. Of course that runs the risk of shorting something which would be bad. But that's the breaks when working on stuff like this.No sure the average person should start chiseling lithium batteries...
But then again we are not attempting an average repair.
If its possibly glued in... I might get an old toaster oven, OUTSIDE and warm up the whole pack and see if you can get it free...
Maybe strategically drill a hole at the opposite end to help push them out with a pin.
I assume it's a plastic housing?
Are they in series or parallel?
At 7.4V the are 2 series with the rest of the bundles paralleled.
All of this is probably more effort than an Orcatorch is worth TBH.