Israel blocks Turkish search team from entering Gaza until Hamas returns more hostage bodies – report

Israel will block a Turkish search and rescue team from entering the Gaza Strip until Hamas returns all of the hostages' bodies in its possession, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

The terror group has so far returned nine bodies to Israel, but Israeli officials say intelligence suggests Hamas still holds or has access to many of the remaining 19 bodies in Gaza and is deliberately withholding them.

“There is a group of hostages’ bodies that Hamas can return right now [and] another group they know the location of, but they need equipment and assistance to retrieve them,” an Israeli source said. “And there are some bodies they genuinely do not know where they are.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar affirmed on Thursday, “We know for certain that Hamas can easily release a significant number of hostages in accordance with the agreement. What they are doing now is a fundamental violation of that agreement.”

Hamas maintains that it has handed over all the bodies in its possession, claiming that the others are inaccessible and buried under rubble.

In a statement released overnight, Hamas said some of the bodies were buried in caved-in tunnels, and others under the rubble of bombed houses. It also repeated its claim that it requires heavy equipment and blamed Israel for any delay.

فيديو | مشاهد توثق بدء مقاتلي كتائب القسام الحفر بحثًا عن جثث الأسرى الإسرائيليين المفقودين في خان يونس جنوبي قطاع غزة. pic.twitter.com/BWJOfexwzf

— فلسطين أون لايـن (@F24online) October 17, 2025

The Qatari channel Al Jazeera, which has acted as a Hamas mouthpiece throughout the war, released a video purportedly showing Hamas operatives searching for the bodies of hostages with bulldozers and other machinery in Khan Younis.

While the Turkish delegation has reportedly not yet entered Gaza, Channel 13 reported that a team of American, Turkish, Egyptian, and Qatari personnel – using engineering equipment supplied by Qatar – is already operating inside the Strip.

Hamas’ failure to fulfill the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which called for the release of all living and deceased hostages by Monday, was the focus of a high-level security discussion convened by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

“I know exactly how many fallen soldiers Hamas is holding, and if we do not receive them, Israel will know how to act accordingly,” Netanyahu reportedly said at the meeting. Afterward, he called U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the issue.

The Trump administration has signaled its willingness to allow Hamas some time to locate more bodies.

“We will pursue the return of the bodies of the deceased until they all come home. And I’m confident they will all come home,” White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said at an event in Washington on Thursday.

“President Trump understands something most leaders forget – that moral clarity without strength means nothing, and it is that combination of conviction and power that has saved lives,” Witkoff added.

Israeli officials have threatened that Phase 2 of the ceasefire would be postponed until the return of all hostage bodies.

Nevertheless, The Jerusalem Post cited two sources who said that senior American, European, and Arab officials would meet in Egypt to discuss the next steps. A Western diplomat reportedly told the JPost, “There must not be a vacuum that allows Hamas to grow stronger.”