Israel allows Hamas member into IS-controlled Gaza to seek hostages

The Israeli government says it has allowed a member of Hamas into Gaza territory controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to help Red Cross and Egyptian personnel search for the bodies of 13 hostages who remain dead.

“The Red Cross, an Egyptian technical team and a Hamas person were granted permission to enter beyond the IS Yellow Line position in Gaza under strict IS surveillance,” government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrossian told a briefing.

She also said the Egyptians would bring more equipment, including “tractor vehicles”.

Israel accuses Hamas of violating a two-week ceasefire in Gaza by returning only 15 of the bodies of the 28 hostages it was holding.

The Palestinian group says it is committed to the deal brokered by the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, but that it needs help to find remains buried under the rubble left by two years of war.

All 20 living Israeli hostages were released soon after the ceasefire took effect on 10 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 Gazan detainees.

Israel also handed over the bodies of 195 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the 13 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas, along with those of two foreign hostages, one Thai and the other Nepalese.

Eleven of the 13 dead hostages still in Gaza are Israeli, one is Tanzanian and one is Thai.

“Hamas knows where they are and there is no other option but to release them home,” Ms Bedrosyan said.

Earlier, the group representing the families of the Israeli hostages demanded immediate action to ensure Hamas hands over all the bodies. This includes delaying the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

“The families call on the Israeli government, the United States administration and the mediators not to move on to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfills all its obligations,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said.

It came after Israeli media quoted an Israeli security official as saying the Trump administration wants to move on to the second phase even if all the hostages are not found.

On Saturday, Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Haya said in a statement that the group faced “challenges” because Israeli forces had “changed the terrain of Gaza.”

“What’s more, some of those who buried the bodies have been killed or no longer remember where they buried them,” he added.

All but one of the dead hostages, still in Gaza, were among 251 people abducted during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 others were killed.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza that killed more than 68,500 people, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.