A review of Hamas’s so-called “blatant violations” of the peace deal, by not returning all 28 bodies of hostages within 72 hours (a timeframe to which it had never agreed), exposes more of Israel’s cynical game. Apparently, Israeli intelligence has known all along the precise location of about 15 of the bodies, and furthermore, they assert that Hamas also knows where they are. Thus, Hamas was slow-walking the process they claim.
As of Oct. 15, Hamas had returned 9 of the bodies. On Oct. 16, Hamas announced that they were doing their best, but they needed earth-moving equipment to do more. An Israeli official told the Times of Israel that Hamas should have returned at least 6 more at that point, and the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had told mediators it believes Hamas knows the location of at least 6 other bodies.
At this point, the international “hostage retrieval” teams agreed upon by the peace agreement were first allowed access, and Netanyahu’s gang adjusted their playbook. But note, it appears that they had spent from Oct. 10-16, holding precise intel on the locations of at least 15 bodies, which they had no interest in providing to Hamas. (It remains unclear how many of those 15 bodies were controlled by Hamas, how many by other Gazan militias, and how many are in territory controlled by Israeli-controlled gangs.) However, it is clear that it was more important to Netanyahu’s gang to use the seven days before the teams were allowed in Gaza to create obstacles—both constraining the recovery process by restricting equipment and, most importantly, reneging on their obligation to allow the 600 trucks of aid into Gaza—while at the same time telling the families of the dead that Hamas was playing games with their loved ones.
On Oct. 16, according to Israel’s Channel 12, Israel gave the other countries in the “hostage retrieval” team the precise coordinates of locations where it believes hostages are buried. A Turkish Defense Ministry source said that day that “there is already a team of 81 AFAD staff there,” referring to Türkiye’s disaster relief agency. Since Oct. 16, three more bodies have been located, apparently with extra help from the Turkish team.
On Oct. 16, Netanyahu met with close advisers to discuss the next set of steps. Israel’s slow-walking had become an issue with Washington and U.S. President Donald Trump had publicly discussed the physical difficulties in retrieving the bodies. After his meeting, Netanyahu spoke with Trump about the steps Israel plans to take. According to Israel’s Hayom daily, Trump expressed his support for the next steps. That evening, Israel’s Channel 13 reported that a team of American, Turkish, Egyptian and Qatari service members was already in Gaza, and that Qatar has provided “engineering equipment” for the purpose.
Expect Israel to be watching closely whether the equipment is “misused,” as Gazan bodies are found in the same rubble in which some hostage bodies are found—the rubble under which Israel’s bombing buried bodies of both Gazans and hostages.
