After a weekend of international pressure and speculation, The Jerusalem Post reports that the IDF is expected to receive the body of a hostage from Hamas today. This is different from the hand-off that never occurred on Friday, as the terror group has confirmed that the exchange will take place on their side of the Yellow Line in Gaza. Hamas is also working to excavate seven to nine bodies, as reported by Saudi media. 13 still have yet to be returned.
The Palestinian terror organization confirmed the locations of the bodies in different areas in the Gaza Strip, a source familiar with the search told Asharq.
No specific date for the handover (for the rest of the bodies) has been set.
The source added that as soon as the remains are excavated, Hamas will hand them over to the Red Cross. However, the source did not say if all of the remains will be released in one handover.
Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Hamas will have to quicken their return efforts after almost a week of no releases and gave them a new 48-hour deadline. Since then, the terror group has seemingly done so, starting today. However, there are suspicions from the Israeli government that Hamas is intentionally slowing their efforts down in order to avoid the second phase of the peace plan, which will require them to disarm.
President Trump said that he is watching the situation closely – and so is The Fellowship. While the living hostages have spent the last two weeks catching up and healing with their families after their release, there are 13 families still in the same despair they’ve been in since October 7. The Fellowship and our faithful supporters pray for these families and continue to work tirelessly to provide hope for victims of war and terror.
