A senior US official has said that Washington does not believe Hamas has violated the Gaza ceasefire agreement regarding the handling of hostage remains and confirmed that the formation of an international stabilisation force for Palestine’s Gaza has begun.
"We do not believe Hamas has breached the agreement with regard to the bodies of hostages so far," the official said, adding that the US has entered the next stage of the Gaza deal.
He said there are "very positive discussions" with the United Nations to ensure humanitarian aid reaches civilians effectively, and that work had begun to establish a stabilisation force tasked with maintaining order in Gaza.
"The situation remains highly sensitive after two years of war in Gaza," the official added.
"We intend to continue working with both sides to create the conditions for disarmament in Gaza. The priorities now are to end the conflict, deliver humanitarian aid, and recover the remaining hostage bodies. No one in Gaza will be forced to leave."
The comments came after Israeli intelligence shared with Washington claims that Hamas still has access to more bodies of Israeli hostages than it has admitted, Axios reported.
The outlet cited two Israeli officials and one US official, saying Israel told the US the Gaza deal could not progress to its next phase until Hamas made further efforts to recover the bodies.
Hamas, however, said it had handed over all the remains it could locate and would need specialised equipment to reach others buried under the debris.
Its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said: "The Resistance has fulfilled its commitment by handing over all living Israeli prisoners and the corpses it could access."
"As for the remaining corpses, it requires extensive efforts and special equipment for their retrieval. We are exerting great effort to close this file," the group said.
The Israeli military confirmed that two more coffins containing hostage bodies were transferred to the Red Cross in Gaza late on Wednesday.
Gruesome process
The comments came as US President Donald Trump said Hamas was continuing to search for the remains of deceased Israeli hostages, calling it a "gruesome process."
Trump said Hamas was "absolutely" looking for the bodies under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, digging through the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment and in tunnels beneath Gaza.
"We have the living hostages all back. They returned some more today. It's a gruesome process," Trump told reporters.
"But they're digging. They're actually digging. There are areas where they're digging, and they're finding a lot of bodies. Then they have to separate the bodies. You wouldn’t believe this. Some have been in there a long time, and some are under rubble."
He reiterated that Hamas must disarm under the ceasefire deal, warning that "if it refuses, we’ll do it."
