Islamic Jihad and Hamas said Thursday they have located another deceased hostage who was killed and will be transferred to Israel at 8 p.m. local time.
Earlier in the day, Israeli officials noted that Hamas could immediately return one of the deceased hostages if it chose to do so, and could hand over another within several days.
Regarding two additional deceased hostages, the assessment in Israel is that Hamas does not know where they are. In recent weeks, however, Israeli officials have already discovered that Hamas holds information on some of the deceased hostages whose whereabouts Israel had believed Hamas did not know. For this reason, Israel's demand of Hamas is now unequivocal: the return of all four remaining deceased hostages.
Hamas conducted another search earlier Thursday for a deceased hostage in the Zeitoun neighborhood, across the yellow line, meaning within an area under Israeli control. The search produced no results. Israeli officials stress that Hamas is stalling, in part to strengthen its own governance and consolidate its standing ahead of the second phase of the deal. In that stage, Israel will be required to withdraw further from the area, while Hamas will be required to disarm.
