Israeli premier, US president discuss return of bodies of Israeli captives from Gaza

WASHINGTON, United States (MNTV) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump discussed progress on the recovery of deceased Israeli captives from Gaza during a phone call on Thursday.

According to Israeli media reports, the two leaders reviewed Hamas’s efforts to locate and return the bodies of captives still trapped beneath rubble, as well as Israel’s potential response to what it views as delays in implementing the ceasefire agreement.

Hamas has so far released 20 living Israeli captives and transferred 10 of 28 confirmed deceased captives since Monday. Israeli authorities, however, have disputed the identification of one of the recovered bodies.

The Palestinian group says recovering the remaining 18 bodies requires heavy equipment and technical support to extract them from collapsed structures across Gaza, insisting the slow pace reflects logistical challenges, not deliberate delay.

Under the ceasefire arrangement, Israel has released 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,718 other detainees captured after October 8, 2023. Still, more than 10,000 Palestinians remain imprisoned, underscoring the scale of ongoing negotiations linked to the broader truce framework.

Families of Israeli captives have urged the government to suspend the next phase of the ceasefire until all remains are returned, intensifying domestic pressure on Netanyahu’s coalition.

While Hamas says it is making “serious efforts” to complete recovery operations, Israeli officials acknowledge that the second phase of talks has yet to begin—despite Trump’s earlier claims that negotiations were advancing.