The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has been allowed to enter areas under Israeli military control in Gaza to search for hostage bodies, Israeli media reported Monday.
Israeli Channel 12, citing security officers, said Hamas has been working in cooperation with the Red Cross and Egyptian teams for the past 24 hours to locate the remains of hostages in areas still occupied by the Israeli army beyond the "yellow line."
The "yellow line" is an imaginary line separating areas currently occupied by the Israeli army in Gaza from those where it had pulled out.
The outlet said Israel and Hamas exchanged information on the estimated locations of the bodies through mediators over the weekend to accelerate the process.
Israel confirmed Sunday that it had allowed Red Cross and Egyptian teams beyond the "yellow line" in Gaza to help in the search for hostage remains.
Under the first phase of a cease-fire deal that took effect on Oct. 10, Hamas has released 20 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 16 others. The remains of 12 hostages are still in the enclave.
The cease-fire plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.
Meanwhile, the families of Israeli hostages demanded Monday that the next steps in the cease-fire be put on hold until Hamas returns the remaining bodies of dead captives.
"Hamas knows exactly where every one of the deceased hostages is held. Two weeks have passed since the deadline set in the agreement for the return of all 48 hostages, yet 13 remain in Hamas captivity," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum claimed.
"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 fulfils all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel," the association said.
Hamas, on the other hand, says it is committed to the cease-fire and insists it is trying to return 13 more bodies – 11 more Israelis and two workers from Thailand and Tanzania – but that the search has been hampered by the destruction wrought on Gaza during the war.
In a statement to the media on Saturday, lead Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said: "There are challenges in locating the bodies of Israeli captives because the occupation has altered the terrain of Gaza.
"Moreover, some of those who buried the bodies have been martyred or no longer remember where they buried them."
No firm timescale has been put on the next stages of the plan, but U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is working to set up an international security force with troops from Arab and Muslim nations to police the truce.
The U.S. military has also set up a coordination center in southern Israel to monitor the cease-fire and to coordinate aid and reconstruction, but aid agencies are pushing for greater access for humanitarian convoys inside Gaza.
Also Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio asked Monday for a swift return of the bodies.
He also said that Washington does not view a strike that Israel claimed targeted a member of a Palestinian resistance group in Gaza as a violation of the cease-fire.
Israel said it struck a member of the Islamic Jihad group Saturday, accusing the individual of planning to attack Israeli troops. Islamic Jihad denied it was planning an attack.
Speaking aboard President Donald Trump's plane during a trip to Asia, Rubio said: "We don’t view that as a violation of the cease-fire."
The U.S. top diplomat added that Israel has not surrendered its right to self-defense as part of the agreement.
"They have the right if there’s an imminent threat to Israel and all the mediators agree with that," Rubio said.
Rubio said the cease-fire was based on obligations on both sides, reiterating that Hamas needs to speed up the return of the remains of hostages who died in captivity.
Israel's Saturday strike came shortly after Rubio departed Israel after a visit aimed at shoring up the cease-fire.
Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza killed over 68,500 people and injured more than 170,300 others since October 2023, according to Palestinian authorities.
