Israel-Gaza live updates: Hostages 'brutally murdered' just before recovery, IDF says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas traded blame early Sunday for the two sides' inability to reach a cease-fire deal, as both responded to the recovery of six hostages' bodies from Gaza.

Netanyahu released a statement accusing Hamas of refusing to negotiate, saying he was ready to move forward with a deal on May 27 -- with the backing of the U.S. -- and an updated proposal on Aug. 16, when Hamas was not taking part in negotiations after the killing of its political chief and lead negotiator Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamas, for its part, said in a statement that Israel insists on continuing the war and "evading" a cease-fire agreement. The group blamed Israel and the U.S. for the deaths of the hostages recovered on Saturday, saying the six captives were killed by Israeli bombing.

Hamas said it agreed to one of the U.S. proposals for a deal, but that Netanyahu added conditions -- backed by the U.S. -- which were unacceptable.

Netanyahu's conditions, the group alleged, were "aimed at obstructing reaching an agreement to preserve his power."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Samy Zyara, Guy Davies and Victoria Beaule

An Israeli security official confirmed to ABC News that the names of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat and Eden Yerushalmi appeared in a July draft of the cease-fire deal as being slated for release in the first phase of the proposed agreement.

Goldberg-Polin was listed because of an injury to his arm, while Gat and Yerushalmi were included as they were women, the official said.

All three were among the six bodies recovered by Israeli forces from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Saturday.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Victoria Beaule

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has called on the country's security cabinet to "convene immediately" after the bodies of six hostages -- among them American Hersh Goldberg-Polin -- were recovered from Gaza on Saturday.

"It's too late for the abductees who were murdered in cold blood," Gallant wrote on X. "The abductees who remain in the captivity of Hamas must be returned home."

Gallant said the security cabinet should "reverse" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reported decision last week to retain military control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a nine-mile stretch of territory running along the Gaza-Egypt frontier.

Hamas cease-fire negotiators are demanding that Israeli forces withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor as part of a hostage-release deal.

"The state of Israel will reckon with all the leaders and murderers of Hamas, down to the last one," Gallant added in his X post.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and David Brennan

The six hostages whose bodies were recovered Saturday in Gaza appeared to have died "shortly before" they were found, the Israeli military said Sunday.

"According to the initial assessment we have, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them," Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, said on Sunday.

The bodies were discovered in a tunnel in Rafah, the densely populated border city in southern Gaza, Hagari said. They were found about a kilometer from where Farhan Al-Qadi, another hostage, was rescued days earlier, he added.

"Since the location of Farhan Al-Qadi, the forces have been given emphasis on careful and controlled action, even more than usual, with the understanding that there may be other abductees in the area," Hagari said. "We did not have information about the exact location of the abductees."

Fighting between Israel and Hamas had been ongoing on Saturday above ground in the area where the bodies were discovered, he said.

The families of hostages released on Sunday a statement mourning the dead and condemning the Israeli politicians who they said they believe are slow-walking and blocking a cease-fire and hostage-return deal.

"A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months," the statement said. "Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller, Anna Burd, Victoria Beaule and Kevin Shalvey