For five days now, Hamas has not transferred the remains of Israeli hostages to Israel, and Israeli officials are making it clear that their patience is running out.
“We won’t wait forever,” a senior political source told The Jerusalem Post. “We want to see progress. President Trump gave Hamas a 48-hour ultimatum to make some kind of advancement on the issue of returning the bodies of the kidnapped victims—and we will take action if, in the end, Hamas fails to move forward on this matter.”
According to Israeli sources, Hamas could return most of the bodies immediately. “The terrorist organization is capable of returning a large number of the murdered hostages’ bodies without any difficulty,” an Israeli official told The Post.
“There may be some bodies that require an operation to retrieve them from underground, and there are others whose burial sites Hamas may not know—but the majority could be returned right now.”
In an unusual move, Israel allowed a representative of the terrorist organization to enter the Israeli-controlled area of the Gaza Strip to work with Egyptian representatives and members of the Red Cross in locating the bodies.
“It’s just one individual operating there, under full IDF control,” an Israeli official said, clarifying that Egypt sent only a symbolic delegation and a small number of tools to assist in the recovery. “There’s one excavator and two trucks for moving sand,” the official added.
Discussions for broader plan for Gaza continue
Meanwhile, discussions continue regarding President Trump’s broader plan for Gaza.
While there is a broad consensus that Hamas must not play a role in Gaza’s central government—what is being referred to as a ‘technocratic administration’—there is a possibility that the organization could still have a limited role in local municipal governance.
According to a source familiar with the details who spoke with The Post, Egypt has suggested that Hamas submit candidates for municipal positions across the Gaza Strip. “It might be a form of compensation—something meant to encourage Hamas to cooperate on the ‘day after’ issues,” the source said.
At the same time, there are efforts underway to arrange a meeting between senior American officials and Palestinian Authority leaders. Such a meeting has not taken place since Trump’s special envoy, Whitcoff, met with Hussein al-Sheikh in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. President Trump also spoke with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas a few weeks ago during the Sharm el-Sheikh conference.
If this meeting takes place, it would be significant, as it would signal that the Palestinian Authority is also expected to play a key role in discussions regarding Gaza’s future. The Trump administration has demanded that Abbas implement major reforms within the Palestinian Authority in order to take part in governing the Gaza Strip.