Hamas doesn’t know locations of 3-5 out of 13 hostage bodies, Israel estimates while preparing to receive 2 more bodies

Israel believes that the Hamas terrorist organization does not know the locations of three to five of the hostages' bodies that remain in the Gaza Strip, as the country prepares to receive the remains of two more hostages this weekend.

Hamas was holding 28 bodies at the start of the ceasefire, less than two weeks ago. Despite the terms demanding the return of all of them, Hamas has slow-walked the release of the bodies and, so far, has handed over only 15 of them. Two more are expected to be released over the weekend.

Israel has argued that Hamas is deliberately withholding some of the bodies it holds. Although the agreement requires the return of all the bodies, reports suggest that Israel agreed to give Hamas additional time to locate and recover remains that may be buried under rubble.

The terror group claims it has already transported all of the bodies in its possession and that it will need heavy equipment to retrieve the rest.

According to Israeli media reports on Thursday, defense officials shared intelligence with U.S. Vice President JD Vance during his visit, indicating that Hamas can return at least 10 of the 13 hostages' bodies still held in Gaza.

Ynet News quoted an Israeli official saying that Hamas doesn’t know the location of five of the bodies.

The terror group is “playing games, and playing for time, in order to extend the ceasefire without reaching the second stage [of the deal], which requires it to disarm,” the official charged.

He stressed, “Israel is pounding the table on the issue of the deceased, and the Americans understand us. Among the deceased are also two American citizens,” he added, referring to IDF Cpt. Omer Neutra and Staff Sgt. Itay Chen.

During the meeting with Vance, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and IDF Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, reportedly, emphasized the importance to Israel of the return of all bodies of the killed hostages.

“Their return must be a prerequisite before moving to the next phase,” Zamir told Vance. He also highlighted the fate of IDF officer Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held in Gaza since 2014.

On Thursday, Hadar's sister, Ayelet, urged the Israeli public to “go to the streets, attend the rallies, don’t remove this from the agenda.”

She warned that if Israel did not act now, “there will be another 12 Hadar Goldins.”

Rubi, father of Itay Chen, told Ynet News on Thursday, “There is a mix of feelings that is hard to explain. I expect to receive the worst phone call of my life, and in the end it doesn’t come and I’m disappointed.”

“We don’t buy what Hamas says,” he continued, “We don’t forget that they murdered and abducted them; they know where they put them. There is difficulty bringing them out. The relevant tools must be brought in and the deceased taken out.”

Ronen Neutra, father of Omer Neutra, said that his reality was “continuous terror.”

“Complete uncertainty, conflicting reports, fragments of information, most of which turn out to be false. It’s simply ongoing terror that the families are in and have to function in.”