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." (Read More)
