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Hamas is now digging through the rubble in Israel-controlled sections of Gaza in search of the bodies of the 13 remaining hostages — as only hours remain to come up with results before President Trump’s deadline.
The terror group is working in tandem with Egyptian excavation teams across the Gaza Strip to try and locate the slain hostages, which include Israeli-Americans Omer Neutra, 21, and Itay Chen, 19.
The rush to find the bodies comes after Hamas failed to hand over any hostages in six days, endangering the US-brokered cease-fire deal and leading Trump to impose a 48-hour deadline on Saturday over the lack of results.
“Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president suggested that the terrorists may be stalling in order to negotiate the terms of the peace deal, which calls on Hamas to give up their arms and cede its power over the Gaza Strip.
“Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said, ‘Both sides would be treated fairly,’ that only applies if they comply with their obligations,” he wrote.
“Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely,” he added.
Although Trump had previously given Hamas time to locate the bodies of the slain hostages, Israel has complained over the slow release, with the families of the victims refuting claims that the terror group is having difficulty finding the dead.
“Hamas knows exactly where every one of the deceased hostages is held,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement calling for a pause on the cease-fire deal.
“The families urge the Government of Israel, the United States administration, and the mediators not to advance to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfills all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel,” the group added.
There’s also renewed tension over the “Yellow Line” that currently divides Gaza and was established to keep Hamas away from the occupying Israeli army.
The Red Cross confirmed on Monday that Hamas members have gone past the line to work on the search effort with the Egyptian teams, who have brought in excavators and heavy equipment to dig through the mountains of rubble.
With Post wires
