Hamas expected to return bodies of several hostages Thursday

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Jerusalem is preparing to receive the bodies of four or five hostages on Thursday who were murdered in captivity in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster reported on Monday.

The ceasefire deal with the Palestinian terrorist group stipulates that the bodies of four hostages will be returned to the Jewish state on the 33rd day of the ceasefire, which went into effect Jan. 19, an Israeli official told Walla news.

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According to Kan News, Hamas is scheduled to hand over the names of the slain captives on Thursday morning. Israeli military ambulances will collect the bodies at a meeting point, from where they will be brought to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

Officials involved in the preparations stressed that the hostages’ families will only be informed after the identification process is completed.

Meanwhile, Ynet reported on Monday night that Israel is demanding the freedom of six living hostages during the seventh release scheduled for Saturday. According to the deal, Hamas is required to release three captives.

In exchange for releasing the additional hostages, the Israeli government has signaled its willingness to allow the entry of hundreds of additional caravans into the Strip, the report claimed.

The three latest returnees from Hamas captivity in Gaza were reunited on Saturday with their families—American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36; Alexander (“Sasha”) Troufanov, 29, who has dual Russian-Israeli citizenship; and Argentine-Israeli national Iair Horn, 46. Saturday’s release was the sixth such round under phase one of the ceasefire.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s leadership and Israel’s coordination with the United States on Saturday, highlighting that the reinforcement of IDF troops around Gaza and the U.S. president’s firm stance led to the release of three hostages despite Hamas’s threats to delay the exchange.

Trump on Saturday congratulated the freed hostages but made clear that their release fell short of his call to free all the captives.

“Hamas has just released three Hostages from GAZA, including an American Citizen. They seem to be in good shape! This differs from their [Hamas’s] statement last week that they would not release any Hostages,” he wrote on his Truth Social social media platform.

“Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!” he added, apparently referring to U.S. Eastern Time, or 7 p.m. in Israel.

Trump’s deadline was a reference to his previous warning that the “gates of hell” could be unleashed if Hamas did not release all of the hostages.

According to official estimates, 73 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza after 500 days, including 70 abducted during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

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