Rubio vows to return bodies of all dead hostages, as Israeli officials hope Hamas returns two more on Sunday: ‘We will not rest’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Saturday to return the bodies of all dead Israeli hostages, as a team from Egypt entered the Gaza Strip to sift through the rubble to help locate their remains.

Rubio was in Jerusalem to meet with families of dual US-Israeli citizens Itay Chen, 19, and Omer Neutra, 21v — slain hostages whose bodies are still located somewhere inside the Palestinian enclave.

“We will not rest until their — and all — remains are returned,” Rubio wrote on X.

“We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in the captivity of Hamas.”

Since President Trump’s cease-fire deal was struck on Sept. 29, the remains of 15 out of 28 dead captives have been returned to Israel, along with all 20 living hostages.

Chen and Neutra were both IDF soldiers killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, whose bodies were then taken hostage by the terror group.

Hamas has been slowly releasing victims’ bodies as it sifts through what is left of the war-torn Gaza Strip.

“Thirteen hostages need to come home,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote on X Saturday, welcoming Rubio’s remarks. “Thirteen families need closure.”

“Please don’t stop — until the last hostage is released.”

Thousands turned out for a rally Saturday night in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, calling for the bodies of the remaining captives to be returned to the Jewish state.

Rubio’s meeting wrapped up a three-day trip to Israel, before he boarded a flight to Doha, where he will meet with Trump and Qatar’s Emir and Prime Minister on Sunday to discuss an international peacekeeping force in Gaza.

Aboard the plane, Rubio said the US is working on a UN resolution or international agreement to establish the peacekeeping mission.

“Many of the countries that have expressed an interest in participating at some level — whether it be monetary or personnel or both — are going to need that because their domestic laws require it,” he told reporters.

“So we have a whole team working on that outline of it.”

Israeli officials are hopeful that Hamas will return two more bodies Sunday after facing pressure from mediators, Channel 12 reported.

The officials accused Hamas of choosing not to release all the slain hostages at once despite being able to, according to the network.

The return is a key condition of the increasingly fragile peace agreement between Israel and Hamas.

An Egyptian team entered the Gaza Strip Saturday with engineering vehicles to help locate the bodies of the dead hostages, Israeli officials said, telling the Times of Israel the move was personally approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli Defense Forces officials reportedly told Vice President JD Vance during a meeting Thursday it believes Hamas can return the bodies of at least 10 of the 13 remaining deceased hostages in the terror group’s hands, according to the country’s public broadcaster.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Jewish state’s No. 1 objective is now destroying Hamas’ tunnels across Gaza — which he says are still 60% operational.

“The demilitarization of Gaza by destroying Hamas’s terror tunnels, alongside disarming Hamas, is, in my view, the most important strategic objective for achieving victory in Gaza,” he said in a statement.

Katz says he told the IDF “to make the destruction of the tunnels the central task now,” according to the Times of Israel.