Hamas to need about a week to locate and free Israeli hostages — The National

The leadership of Hamas will require roughly a week to free living Israeli hostages and locate and hand over the remains of those killed in captivity, sources told The National.

According to the report, Egypt plans to send specialised equipment to “specific sites” of the Gaza Strip to assist in locating and exhuming the bodies of deceased Israelis. Participants in the operation will need authorisation from the Israeli military.

Earlier, sources told The National that Hamas leaders had lost contact with militants holding some of the living hostages due to the intensity of fighting in Gaza. Additionally, the burial sites of deceased hostages have become difficult to locate, as many were interred in tunnels destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

“This new timeline is dictated by the logistical difficulties involved and the need for Israel's military to pull back to lines far enough from the areas where the handover will take place.”

On October 5, US President Donald Trump described his peace proposal for Gaza as a "great deal for everybody". He separately warned Hamas it faced "complete obliteration" if it tried to cling on to power in Gaza.

Israel's top general meanwhile said troops "will return to fighting" in Gaza if talks fail. Israel claimed to have eased its bombardment due to a "change in the operational situation", although Palestinian officials reported dozens more deaths over the weekend.

Hamas, said the sources, wants all Israeli military activities in Gaza, including reconnaissance flights, to be suspended during the process of handing over the hostages, which had previously been done through the International Red Cross.

In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free hundreds of Palestinians incarcerated in Israeli prisons, including scores who have been convicted of security-related charges and sentenced to long or lifetime jail terms.

By Khagan Isayev