Sources: Israeli veto on Turkish or Qatari forces in Gaza forced mediators to only send Egyptian hostage-recovery team

Israel rejected an initiative being advanced by the countries mediating the Gaza ceasefire that would have seen the creation of a multilateral team tasked with entering Gaza and retrieving the bodies of the remaining deceased hostages still in the Strip, two Arab diplomats tell The Times of Israel.

The initiative would have seen representatives from Israel, the US, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt form a joint search team that would share advanced capabilities and intelligence to locate and retrieve the remaining hostages, the Arab diplomats say.

Israel pushed back vehemently against granting a role for Turkish and Qatari forces in Gaza, and the mediators sufficed with an alternative proposal that would just see an Egyptian search team enter the Strip, the diplomats say.

The Egyptian team entered the Strip earlier this week but has yet to play a role in the retrieval of additional hostages, one of the Arab diplomats says, claiming that Cairo alone doesn’t have the capabilities necessary for the task at hand.

Israel has pushed back on the notion that such an initiative is needed, arguing that Hamas knows where the vast majority — or even all — of the remaining 13 deceased hostages are located and is dragging its feet in retrieving them.