Two more bodies of deceased hostages will be handed over at 10pm local time (8pm UK time) tonight, Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Bridgades, have said in a statement just now.
This would bring the count of returned bodies to 12 hostages, up from 10, according to Israel’s tally. Another 16 deceased hostages would then have to be returned.
Hamas has handed over 13 bodies so far, but Israel said that one of them didn’t match any of the missing hostages.
The group said previously that the recovery of the remaining hostages would require special equipment, while Israeli officials suggested that Hamas is deliberately delaying the return of the hostages.
All 28 bodies were supposed to have been handed over by last Monday.
There has been “confusion all week” regarding the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, explains Sky News correspondent Sally Lockwood, who is reporting live from Jerusalem.
It is grounded in “a lot of anger” in Israel that the deceased hostages have not all been returned, she tells Sky News’ Datten McCaffrey.
But vice versa, Lockwood notes, there are accusations from Hamas that Israel has violated the “very fragile” ceasefire.
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