Israeli officials acknowledge that the possibility of moving to Phase 2 of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Hamas is “very likely,” according to a report aired Friday evening on Kan 11 News.
The officials stated that locating some of the deceased hostages buried in the Gaza Strip will take time, but the Americans are convinced that progress in the agreement can be made before all the bodies are returned.
The report also noted that, in an effort to secure the return of additional remains of hostages, Israel sent a message to Hamas indicating that if more bodies are handed over, the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Strip will increase. So far, Israel has not delivered all the humanitarian aid as stipulated in the agreement, as not all hostages held by Hamas have been returned.
Earlier, it was reported that police had been instructed to prepare for the possibility that the Hamas terrorist organizations would return two deceased hostages to Israel on Friday night. However, subsequent reports indicated that the handing over of bodies would be delayed.
The most recent handover of hostages occurred early Wednesday morning, when the bodies of Arie Zalmanowicz - a founding member of Kibbutz Nir Oz who was murdered about a month after his abduction - and Tamir Adar - a member of Nir Oz’s emergency response team who fell in battle on October 7 - were returned.
On Thursday, Kan 11 News reported that the Intelligence Directorate is confident that Hamas is capable of returning at least 10 of the 13 deceased hostages still in Gaza, even without international assistance. Senior intelligence officials presented the intelligence supporting this conclusion to US Vice President JD Vance during his visit to Israel.
A senior Israeli official stated on Friday morning that Hamas is capable of returning the bodies of up to eight more hostages to Israel, but does not know the whereabouts of five others.
“They’re playing games and stalling to prolong the ceasefire even without moving into the second stage, which requires disarmament,” the official claimed.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)