Witkoff said to tell families it may be very difficult to locate some of the bodies of dead hostages

US special envoy Steve Witkoff told the families of hostages when he met with them earlier this evening that it could be very hard to locate some of the bodies of dead hostages, Channel 12 reports.

Hamas is obligated under the terms of the deal to return all 48 hostages, living and dead, by Monday. But it has indicated that it may not be able to locate them all within this deadline, and Israel is aware of this.

The families were deeply troubled by Witkoff’s assessment and are pleading for Israel to do everything to return every hostage, the report says.

There are believed to be 20 living hostages and 28 who are dead.

Three Israeli officials told CNN on Wednesday that Hamas might not be able to find all the dead hostages. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has known for months that this is the case, according to the officials.

One official told CNN that seven to nine bodies might not be retrieved, while another put that figure at between 10 and 15. The assessments were based on Israeli intelligence and information coming out of the talks in Egypt, the report said, though there was no way to know the exact figure. The CNN report was not publicly confirmed by Israeli authorities.

Some of the hostages’ families also expressed dismay that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s name was booed by some in Hostages Square when Witkoff praised Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in his speech for their central roles in securing the hostage-ceasefire deal, Channel 12 says. They said this was inappropriate.