Families of missing Israeli hostages demand pause in Gaza truce plan

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JERUSALEM — Families of Israeli hostages on Monday called for the next stage of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza to be delayed until Hamas returns the bodies of the remaining dead captives, even as Egyptian rescuers joined in the hunt for them.

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“Hamas knows exactly where each of the dead hostages is being held. Two weeks have passed since the agreement set out for the return of all 48 hostages, but 13 people remain in Hamas captivity,” the Forum of Hostages and Missing Families said.

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“The families call on the Israeli government, the US administration and the mediators not to move to the next stage of the agreement until Hamas fulfills all of its obligations and returns all hostages to Israel,” the association said.

On October 10, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force, ending the war in Gaza, which was sparked by a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group that killed 1,221 people in Israel.

Hamas militants also took 251 people hostage during the attack.

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The subsequent Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip killed at least 68,527 people, according to the territory's health ministry, which is considered reliable by the United Nations.

Under the terms of a ceasefire brokered by the United States and mediators Qatar and Egypt, Hamas released the remaining 20 living hostages and the remains of 15 of the 28 already confirmed dead by Israel.

Hamas says it is committed to upholding the ceasefire and insists it is trying to return 13 more bodies – 11 more Israelis and two workers from Thailand and Tanzania – but the search has been hampered by the destruction inflicted on Gaza during the war.

In a statement to the media on Saturday, Hamas lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said: “There are problems in recovering the bodies of Israeli captives because the occupation has changed the territory of Gaza.

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“Moreover, some of those who buried the bodies were tortured or no longer remember where they buried them.”

Search for bodies

Over the past two days, Egypt, with Israeli approval, has sent rescue teams and heavy earth-moving equipment to Gaza to assist in the reconstruction operation.

Israeli spokeswoman Shosh Bedrossian said a team of Red Cross workers, Egyptian rescue workers and a Hamas member were searching for the bodies and were allowed to cross the so-called Yellow Line into the Gaza area controlled by Israeli forces.

“The Red Cross, the Egyptian technical team and a Hamas representative were allowed to enter the Yellow Line position in the Gaza Strip under close surveillance by the (Israeli army) to determine the whereabouts of our hostages,” Bedrossian told reporters.

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A Red Cross spokesman also confirmed that he was part of the search party.

No firm timeline has been set for the next stages of the Gaza truce plan, but US President Donald Trump's administration is working to create an international security force with troops from Arab and Muslim countries to enforce the truce.

Israel has expressed strong opposition to Turkey's participation in the proposed security force.

At a news conference in Budapest, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “has taken a hostile approach against Israel, which has included not only hostile statements, but also diplomatic and economic measures against Israel.”

“So it is not reasonable for us to allow their military forces to enter the Gaza Strip, and we will not agree to that, and we have said that to our American friends,” he added.

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The US military has also set up a coordination center in southern Israel to monitor the ceasefire and coordinate relief and reconstruction, but aid agencies are pushing for greater access for humanitarian convoys inside the Gaza Strip.

Israel has withdrawn its troops from Gaza's main cities but still controls about half the territory from positions along the Yellow Line and has resisted calls to allow aid through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel had lifted the state of emergency in areas near the border with the Gaza Strip for the first time since the October 2023 attack.

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