Hamas 'intend to honour deal' on hostage bodies, say senior US advisers

US President Donald Trump himself said earlier that Hamas was "digging" for bodies.

Hamas aims to stick to its pledge to return the bodies of dead hostages in Gaza, senior US advisers said Wednesday, after Israel threatened to resume fighting because only a few had been given back.

Retrieving the bodies from the Palestinian territory was difficult because it had been "pulverized," meaning that specialized equipment would be needed to get them out, they added.

"We continue to hear from them that they intend to honour the deal. They want to see the deal completed in that regard," one of the advisers told reporters on condition of anonymity when asked if Hamas would stick to the agreement.

"There was a lot of disappointment and outrage when only four bodies were returned, and they could have just said, you know, we're moving on," the adviser added.

"But they returned bodies the next day and then the next day, as quickly as we give them intelligence."

US President Donald Trump himself said earlier that Hamas was "digging" for bodies.

"They're digging. They're finding a lot of bodies," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if Hamas was sticking to the deal.

Israel's defense minister on Wednesday threatened to resume fighting if Hamas does not honour the terms of the US-backed ceasefire that halted the war in Gaza.

Before two bodies were handed over late on Wednesday, Hamas had already returned the remains of seven of 28 known deceased hostages -- along with an eighth body that Israel said was not that of a former hostage.

But the US officials stressed the complexity involved in getting the remaining bodies from the ruins, echoing Hamas's own complaints that it could not retrieve more without specialized equipment.

"The entire Gaza strip has been pulverized. It looks like something out of a movie," a second adviser said.

The US and other mediators were looking at a programme of rewards for people helping locate the bodies of dead hostages, he said.

Turkey, one of the key mediators in the deal, was meanwhile in talks to provide experts on body retrieval to send to Gaza, the adviser added.

Other countries including Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar and Azerbaijan were meanwhile mulling involvement in an international stabilisation force for Gaza, the advisers said.