Israel says Hamas has not provided any information about the status of those 34 hostages, dampening any notion that the endorsement is a step toward a deal to stop the war.

Israel said Monday that Hamas had yet to clarify whether 34 hostages it said it was ready to free were dead or alive, throwing doubt on the group's assertion that it needed time to ascertain their fate.

Hamas has named 34 hostages, some of them believed to have died in captivity, who it says it would return to Israel in the first phase of an evolving if still elusive ceasefire in Gaza.

Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man’s son.

A father and son thought to still be alive after they were taken hostage by Hamas during the terror group’s 2023 attack on Israel were found dead in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military told their loved ones Wednesday.

The body of a hostage has been found in a Gaza tunnel, raising stakes for ceasefire talks and the fate of other captives.