Eight Left
Hamas continued to play games with the remaining hostage bodies, but eventually turned over three more leaving 8 bodies still to be returned. Part of the political theater is that the first remains were not of any of the 11 bodies left. This alone should have voided the ceasefire, but Hamas decided to change their tune when they needed to address the 200 or so terrorists trapped in tunnels the IDF recently attacked. The tunnels were previously left alone because living hostages were suspected in them. According to reports Hamas asked for safe passage for these terrorists and their weapons to move from behind the yellow line and into Hamas controlled areas. We read more on this in a report from Israel Hayom:

Israel's position firmly rejects permitting terrorists to transit from Khan Younis and Rafah deep in Israeli-held territory to Hamas areas. In contacts held in recent days, effectively since the IDF force attack and death of Master Sgt. Yona Efraim Feldbaum last week in Rafah, Hamas demanded passage of several dozen terrorists, between 100 and 200, back to its ranks.

More details on the trapped terrorists is given:

These terrorists became trapped in tunnels in the two southern cities. They are surrounded but attempt periodically to attack IDF soldiers. Since the ceasefire started, they have succeeded in killing three soldiers and wounding others. The IDF has eliminated many attackers, but many others remain in the tunnels. At the beginning of contacts, Hamas demanded passage in its own vehicles that would enter IDF territory and be escorted by the Red Cross to prevent harm. Subsequently, it agreed they would be transferred in Red Cross vehicles but demanded they keep their weapons.

The source says that Israel was willing to free them but not allow them to take their weapons with them among other conditions:

Israel Hayom revealed Israel demanded the terrorists leave their weapons behind. Additional conditions that were set included Hamas committing to halt the attacks and maintain the ceasefire. Most critically, Hamas would return all bodies of the kidnapped fallen soldiers, again as written in the Sharm agreement.

They Know Where The Bodies Are

Something we’ve known from the start is that Hamas could have returned all the bodies at one time if it wanted to and as part of the agreement. The talks between the parties now are all a part of Hamas extracting as much as they can by having those bodies. Anyone who paid any attention to these terrorists knows that this is exactly what they would do. The gall of trying to make Israel look like the bad guys for not turning over the trapped terrorists is part and parcel with how they work. Israel, for its part is trying to negotiate:

According to information Israel has, Hamas has access to nearly or all the bodies and is withholding their return to gain advantages in negotiations. Israel also demanded an update on progress implementing the second phase, which includes Hamas disarming. During the contacts, Israel has conveyed a clarification to Hamas that if the attacks don't cease, all these terrorists will be eliminated and buried beneath the tunnel rubble.

So who is gumming up the works on this issue? Hamas is:

However, Hamas has refused the condition of leaving weapons behind, claimed it has no control or contact with the terrorists in question, and regarding the kidnapped fallen soldiers, continues to assert that extracting the bodies requires engineering tools it doesn't possess. This response, combined with public pressure in Israel, led to the prime minister's announcement at midday that he will not permit safe passage of 200 Hamas terrorists and continues his firm position of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Strip, while thwarting terror threats against our forces.

Hamas, who is known for turning the Israeli public against the Israeli government is now seeing that the populace is turning on them. In short, they are losing more and more leverage with each passing day and with each outlandish demand and action. Israelis and even Gazans have had enough of these terrorists and it’s only a matter of time until the IDF is fully unleashed. The only thing slowing down those military actions is the US and their diplomatic efforts:

The significance is that the IDF is expected to intensify its operations in areas under its control against those terrorists, exposing hiding places and eliminating them. On the diplomatic level, the Americans are trying to delay such intense operations to prevent collapse of the ceasefire. Another consideration in the delay is continued searches for fallen kidnapped soldiers in various locations in the Strip.

Expect Hamas to milk as much as they can from the 8 remaining bodies in their possession. As we pray for the peace of Jerusalem we need to factor in what we see happening now. And we also need to continue to pray against the rise of antisemitism around the world. Although it is a key element of Bible prophecy overall we can still push back against it.