We will hand over the remains to you. Hamas has admitted to Israeli negotiators that some of the hostages are no longer alive

The return of 33 hostages as part of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire is part of a “softened” proposal accepted by Hamas representatives on Monday. However, how many of the 33 are still alive and how many are dead, according to the New York Times, is unclear.

The fact that Hamas is not able to fill the first group released with a sufficient number of live hostages does not mean that it already has so few in its power. The first group should consist of women, elderly men, the sick and injured. So it only means that Hamas does not have enough Israelis in its possession who meet these criteria. At the same time, during the negotiations, Israel already compromised on its demand that Hamas hand over 40 hostages to it in the first phase.

According to current estimates, the radical movement in Gaza is still holding around a hundred people kidnapped during the October 7 terrorist attack. The Israel Defense Forces and US officials are working with the version that approximately 30 hostages have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began.

The confirmation by Hamas that some of the hostages are dead is likely to infuriate families of the abductees and protesters, who have long pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do more to free the hostages.

Also on Monday evening, thousands of protesters blocked roads in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, demanding that Netanyahu accept a ceasefire proposal approved by Hamas, which the prime minister calls unacceptable to Israel.