With Israel‘s threats to Hamas to delay the return of most of the dead hostages held in Gaza still on the table, an Israeli Prime Minister‘s Office official said that as long as Hamas continues to hand over bodies, Israel will not seek to punish the organization.

“They are playing games, they could release more bodies,” the official said. “But we see that they are handing them over. So if this is ongoing and we see a steady flow, I think that’s something we can sustain. But the moment we start to see that it’s not continuous, then we’re going to pull the cord.”

“I think in the near future we will see a few more bodies being delivered,” the official continued. “It takes time. We have to understand that finding the bodies and the whole logistical process of handing them over takes time. Israel understands this. And we are making the decision on how long we will wait for this event.”

“On the one hand, we know that it takes time,” the official continued, warning that “we will not allow it to be overly prolonged. The moment Israel will see that it is simply prolonged without reason, I think that will be the moment when we will give up.”

In Israel, Egypt’s intelligence chief

The head of Egypt’s intelligence services, Hassan Rashad, arrived in Israel to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip with senior officials in the Netanyahu government and the US, according to the Times of Israel.

According to Egyptian TV channel eXtra news, Rashad met with senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief David Zini.

Rashad is expected to meet with senior White House advisers Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner, and contact with J.D. Vance, who arrived in Israel on Tuesday afternoon, is not ruled out.