Israel warns Hamas is ‘slow-walking’ hostage bodies' return, tells US that ceasefire’s Phase 2 won’t start until all are back

Despite having only returned nine of the 28 hostage bodies to Israel so far, Hamas knows where at least several more bodies are located, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

The terror group broke the ceasefire agreement on the first day by only returning four bodies and has since returned only five more, while still holding 21 bodies.

Israel suspects that Hamas is trying to drag out the process on purpose and has warned the U.S. that it won’t move into Phase 2 of the agreement, which is supposed to deal with Hamas’s disarmament and the creation of a new government in Gaza, until all hostage bodies are returned.

The terror group has claimed that it needs “special equipment” to search for and reach some of the bodies, which it claims are buried under rubble.

A spokesman claimed to Al Jazeera on Wednesday that there are “ten thousand dead who are under the rubble; with the modest capabilities at our disposal inside the Gaza Strip, we have not been able to retrieve them until now.”

In another hint that the group is trying to drag out the process, he added that there should be no preferential treatment for the Israeli hostages, and that “they should search for and locate everyone who is under the rubble and recover them so they can be buried by their relatives.”

The news outlet Axios cited two Israeli officials and one U.S. official who said that Jerusalem told Washington that while a small number of bodies could be hard to locate, it estimates that 15-20 bodies can be returned quickly.

Israel also sent the U.S. new intelligence proving Hamas has access to more of the bodies than it claims. “We don’t see Hamas making maximum effort regarding the bodies. We know they can do more and we don't think anybody should give them any discounts,” said a senior Israeli official.

The Trump administration reportedly doesn’t consider Hamas to have broken the terms of the deal, and is eager to move into the next phase of the deal and start negotiations over its details.

“Hamas will give all the bodies back, but it is going to take time. We will continue working on it but we can't allow the deal to collapse,” a U.S. official told Axios.

Israel’s concerns were brought up by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in a call with President Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Two senior U.S. advisers told Axios that Kushner and Witkoff asked Dermer to send all the information Israel has on the possible locations of bodies so the U.S. can “challenge” Hamas to step up its efforts to locate them.

In his public comments on the issue, Trump acknowledged that Hamas deceived the other parties at first, but appeared ready to give the terrorists more time.

Speaking to reporters during a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei at the White House, he said, “They misrepresented it because we were told they had 26, 24 of the dead hostages, and it seems as though they don't have that. Because we're probably a much lesser number, but that's a very tough subject. I want them back.”

On Wednesday, Trump said he believes Hamas is working to locate the bodies. “It's a very gruesome process. They are digging. There are areas where they dig and find many bodies and they need to separate them. Some of the bodies have been there for a long time. Some are buried under the rubble, some are in tunnels.”

The U.S. advisers affirmed that the Gaza Strip lacks necessary heavy equipment. “It's almost impossible for Hamas to reach all the dead hostages,” one of them said, adding that Turkey and other governments would send experts to help with the recovery process.

Egyptian sources told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that Egyptian teams are already on the ground inside the Gaza Strip to locate and recover the bodies, while a Turkish team is also reportedly on the way.