Israel knows where 9 slain captives are being held in Gaza – report

Israel urges US to pressure Hamas on return of slain hostages, saying it has locations of most of the remaining 13 hostages and that Hamas is intentionally slow-walking their return.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel knows the location of nine of the remaining hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, according to a weekend report by Israel’s national broadcaster, as Israel lobbies the US to pressure Hamas to adhere to the ceasefire deal and immediately transfer all of the bodies of slain captives whose whereabouts are known.

On Sunday, Kan reported that Israel knows the locations of 9 of the 13 bodies of slain captives still in Gaza, a message which has been conveyed to US officials.

Israeli officials reportedly told the US that Jerusalem is “certain” that Hamas could return most of the remaining hostage bodies and is merely choosing to hold on to the remains for political reasons.

While Hamas was obligated under the terms of the Gaza peace deal laid out by the US to return all 48 hostages – including 20 living captives and the remains of 28 others – by October 13, the terrorist group had not handed over any additional remains, despite claims it would transfer two more bodies late last week.

The Islamist terror group has claimed it is struggling to recover the remains, though Israel insists Hamas is stalling and that at least nine bodies could be returned immediately.

An Egyptian search and rescue team has been permitted into Gaza to aid with the recovery efforts. Workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross are also active in southern Gaza, digging through rubble to locate the remains of slain hostages.

A 48-hour deadline set by President Donald Trump over the weekend expired late Monday night, Israel time.

On Saturday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social account that Hamas must demonstrate that it is making a good faith effort to return all of the slain hostages, adding that he will be “watching this very closely.”

“Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action,” Trump warned.

“Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not.

“Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours.”