Hamas urges mediators to proceed with next stage of ceasefire deal as international team enters Gaza to search for hostage bodies

This is despite Hamas failing to fulfil its commitment under the first phase of the deal, which brought fighting in Gaza to a halt after two years of war.

Hamas has returned only seven bodies

As part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, Hamas had agreed to hand over all the Israeli hostages, both living and dead. But so far, Hamas has returned 20 living hostages and the bodies of another seven. Hamas has yet to hand over the bodies of the final 19 deceased hostages and has claimed that they have returned all the remains they had.

Hamas unable to located 21 bodies

According to Hamas, it would take time to return the remaining bodies, as they are buried in tunnels destroyed by Israel or under the rubble of buildings damaged in airstrikes.

Videos posted by Al Jazeera Arabic on social media also showed Hamas members searching for the remains of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

‘Hamas knows location of the bodies’

While the militant group told mediators that they had lost the remains, Israeli officials believe that Hamas knows the location of at least some of them.

“There is a double-digit number of hostages that [Hamas] can return,” an unnamed Israeli official told Channel 12.

Israel has insisted that Hamas should return all the hostages for the Gaza ceasefire to enter the second phase.

International team to search for missing hostage bodies

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that a group of international experts comprising Americans, Turks, Egyptians and Qataris has entered the Gaza Strip to search for the missing hostage bodies. Egypt, which played a key role in the Hamas-Israel negotiations, is said to be leading the search operations in Gaza. They are set to begin work soon, based on intelligence provided by Israel.

Israel has also stepped up pressure on Hamas to return the remaining bodies by restricting the flow of aid to Gaza.