After Hamas breaches deal, Israel fears group hiding deceased hostages for future negotiations

[question everything]

Israeli officials expressed shock and frustration Monday after Hamas transferred to Israel only four bodies of hostages, far fewer than expected and in violation of the agreement that was supposed to see all hostages — living and dead — returned by midday.

Israeli officials said they do not believe Hamas’s claim that it does not know the whereabouts of other deceased hostages. The small number returned also contradicts previous statements by Hamas during negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, where it had said it knew the location of a larger group of hostages’ remains. Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas was obligated to return all hostages — both the living and the dead — by 12 p.m. Monday, marking the end of a 72-hour deadline that began when Israeli forces withdrew to what officials call the “yellow line” inside Gaza.

While Israeli officials had anticipated that a small, single-digit number of bodies might be returned Monday, they did not expect the number to be as low as four. Israeli defense officials said that if Hamas fails to cooperate fully in the process of returning the remaining bodies, Israel will assume the terror group is deliberately withholding them to retain leverage in future negotiations.

(snip)

The developments have clouded what Israeli officials had described as a “historic day,” marking progress in the long and painful hostage crisis that has gripped the country since the war began a year ago. Government sources said Israel is unlikely to abandon the broader agreement immediately — especially as U.S. President Donald Trump celebrates the end of the war — but frustration, disappointment, and anger are mounting over what is seen as Hamas’s attempt to retain bodies as bargaining chips.

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rjh8n0qpgg

[Lovie777]

1. Say what?.................

[niyad]

2. Colour me sooooo NOT surprised.

[tritsofme]

3. Exactly. Just what you would expect from Hamas scum.

[Wifes husband]

4. Wish I was surprised

[OC375]

5. Shocked

Shocked, I say. Perhaps once Hamas is done executing people, they can look for the hostages they misplaced?

[ProfessorGAC]

6. "Mission Accomplished" Redux

The cult had their parade a bit too soon if the deal started going south the 2nd day.

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. It looks like the Master Negotiator's triumph is going

to fall a little shy of 3,000 years... https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220718288

[Disaffected]

8. Taking bets on how many Scaramuccis

the "peace agreement" will last. High odds for anything over 1 or 2.

[Para722]

9. Hostages

Well I guess they want to go back to being bombed , you would think that the first thing you do is keep your sides promise and return the remains. Nope they started taking over streets and intersections and started executing people. I’m done caring what happens to them. I feel for the regular Palestinian but they just don’t get it

[AloeVera]

11. See reply # 10.

Though it doesn't seem like neither facts nor nuances would sway you....

[Igel]

12. Having met with hurrahs for the ceasefire,

and with Trump claiming awesome kudos for finagling it--to some extent pressuring Israel, but to a larger extent making sure Hamas was hemmed in, to renew hostilities on the part of Israel would quite possibly not garner a huge outcry from progressives and those agitating for a ceasefire at all costs and Trump.

In other words, the "resistance's" behavior will find supporters because, of course, they can't be blamed but Israel must be.

[AloeVera]

10. Netanyahu set a trap.

As expected (by me at least), the return of the deceased hostages is the first pretext to continue the genocide, or perhaps exert leverage on the remainder of the process.

Israel knew that less than 10 dead hostage bodies would be released initially. Now it feigns shock that it turned out to be true.

In fact Netanyahu - and the US - have known for months that Hamas is unable to return all deceased hostages.

snip

The three Israeli sources say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet have known for months that Hamas does not know the whereabouts of some of the deceased hostages and may therefore be unable to meet that demand. CNN has asked the Israeli government for comment.

The United States has also known about the issue for some time, with negotiators in the Biden administration aware that some hostages were held by factions in Gaza over which Hamas does not exert full control.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/middleeast/israel-hamas-dead-hostages-return-intl

None of this came as a surprise, however.

Though Hamas was technically required to release all hostages, alive and dead, by noon Monday, negotiators for the militant group had previously indicated that recovering the bodies of some deceased hostages could take longer — a claim that Israeli intelligence had independently confirmed, according to a recent CNN report.

“Sources say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet have known for months that Hamas does not know the whereabouts of some of the deceased hostages and may therefore be unable to meet that demand,” CNN reported, putting the most recent count in the “single figures” (while noting that earlier intelligence assessments had suggested a higher number). The Times of Israel reported that anywhere from seven to 15 bodies may be missing.

CNN also reported that the U.S. has “known about the issue for some time,” and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said as much in his meeting Saturday night with the hostages’ families, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/hamas-releases-the-bodies-of-4-dead-israeli-hostages-but-dozens-remain-missing-where-are-they--and-what-happens-next-203755287.html

Also:

Hamas believes that not all deceased hostages will be found

Hamas had openly said in recent days that, given the extensive destruction in Gaza from Israel's invastion, not all of the deceased hostages would be found.

For example, if Hamas buried hostages near a particular building and that building and all the ones around it were later destroyed, finding the spot may be possible over time, but would be much more difficult.

--snip-

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-870355

All of Gaza is one gigantic graveyard, with the dead still under rubble or plowed under by Israeli bulldozers. How to find 24 hostages amidst all that destruction in 72 hours?

As well, Israel still controls over 50% of Gaza, mainly the north. Given that most of these hostages were killed on October 7th, they likely would have been buried in the north, which was the first area to be flattened. How would Hamas reach those hostages?

It seems to me yet another case of impossible-to-meet demands by Israel, a definite pattern over the last 2 years in its efforts to scuttle every ceasefire in order to complete its genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Shameless. Netanyahu KNEW. He's still toying with the hostage families in his quest to establish Greater Israel and steal Palestinians' homeland.

No surprise some are quick to jump on this without presenting the full facts.

[Igel]

13. "Not all" is not usually taken to be "almost none." n/t

[EdmondDantes_]

14. But 4 is very much in the range of less than 10

There's nothing here that should be a surprise to Israel.

[question everything]

15. Four more bodies were transferred

https://democraticunderground.com/10143547557

[AloeVera]

16. Yes, as promised yesterday. Another likely 4 tomorrow.

There is no benefit - but great risk - to Hamas to deliberately slow-walk the releases. I believe they are desperately looking for the hostages.

Unfortunately Israel has already decided to punish the entire population collectively.

https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20720633