Against the backdrop of preparations to receive the dead hostages and the identification challenge that will begin with their return, Israel estimates that some of the remains are still buried in the ground in Gaza. If Hamas does not cooperate with the repatriation process - and Israel suspects it is deliberately hiding the bodies in order to keep them as bargaining chips - it is expected to impose a series of sanctions on it, including preventing reconstruction in Gaza, stopping the bringing in of caravans, blocking the opening of bakeries and forbidding the import of civilian equipment.
The international task force, whose establishment was revealed by ynet, will take part in the search efforts. Israel is expected to supply the force and the relevant parties with precise reference points where the remains are likely buried, and targeted excavations will be carried out there. In other areas of Gaza, "closure orders" have been imposed to prevent construction or rehabilitation work until excavations are completed out of concern that dead hostages were buried there. Israel is prepared for the operation with a list of sites where excavations are planned.
Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said in an interview with Fox News that he believes all of the remains will be located after the search and excavations, but added that "some of the hostages may never get back," Vance said that "but I do think, with some effort, we'll be able to give them to their families so they at least have some closure. We focused on the living hostages. We do want to give these people the ability to have a proper burial with their loved ones who were murdered by brutal terrorists, and that matters to us.t matters to the families, and it will remain a focus, but it's going to take some time."
Meanwhile, all families of the hostages in Israel received a phone call from their intelligence officer with an assessment of the status of their loved ones. According to the agreement between Israel and Hamas, the terror organization is also supposed to release the 28 dead hostages, but Israeli estimates say that only about half of them will be returned Monday because not all will be found. In the meantime, the task force will begin its work immediately after the remains that are found are returned, in order to locate the rest. That task force will include the United States, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and Israel.
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Displaced Palestinians walk past ruins of buildings in Gaza
(Photo: Ramadan Abed/Reuters)
"From the moment the living hostages arrive at the Re'im camp, the Red Cross will adapt the vehicles and prepare for the return of dead hostages," said Coordinator for the Hostages and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsch. "From there they are expected to collect coffins of deceased hostages in vehicles adapted for that purpose. I cannot give my estimates, but certainly a number of dead hostages are expected to be released and to pass by us already tomorrow."
Hirsch added that they "will be received by our forces, and there the coffins will be draped with the Israeli flag. A military ceremony of salute, honor and prayers will be held as defined and as performed in previous receptions. At that ceremony there will be an IDF honor guard, a military rabbi will say a prayer, and the coffins will be loaded onto vehicles already prepared for the mission. Subsequently the convoy will head to the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine, where the identification process will take place."
After the identification is certain, the Hostages and Missing Persons Directorate will pass the information on to the families of the dead. "We will also update the families of missing fallen hostages who were not identified, so they know that their loved one has not yet been returned to the country, and we continue the effort to bring them back," Hirsch said. "The directorate is also prepared to assist in holding funerals according to the families' requests."