Israeli security source: Not surprised by Hamas decision, will respond

An Israeli security source said on Monday evening that Hamas’s decision to reduce the number of bodies of captives it will hand over to Israel today to just four constitutes a breach of the agreement, and stressed that Israel will not tolerate the step and there will be “appropriate responses.”

The source, who is involved in the details of negotiations over the return of living captives and the dead, said Israeli agencies had expected Hamas to transfer a limited number of bodies, adding: “The decision to return only four bodies naturally raises criticism, and these messages have been conveyed to the mediators.”

Another security source added that “the special operation to return living captives and the bodies is being carried out in stages, and if Hamas does not honour its commitment to return all the captives, there will be no progress,” noting that Israel “will not yield or overlook,” and that clear messages have been relayed to the movement via mediators, expressing hope that “what happened is merely an administrative delay and nothing more.”

Earlier on Monday, Hamas announced it would return the bodies of the deceased captives: Gai Eluz, Yossi Sharabi, Bipin Joshi and officer Daniel Perez, while a Red Cross convoy headed to southern Gaza to collect the bodies from the movement and was en route to the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine for autopsy.