Trump threatens Hamas over refusal to return all hostages’ bodies

Israel believes Hamas is withholding the bodies of the 13 remaining slain hostages for strategic leverage.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump issued a warning to the Hamas terror group on Saturday evening, stating on social media that he is aware Hamas is intentionally withholding the bodies of slain hostages, which violates the ceasefire deal with Israel that was brokered by Washington earlier in October.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas is obligated to locate and return the remains of the remaining 13 deceased hostages held in Gaza. However, the terror group has claimed it cannot find all the bodies.

Israeli intelligence has informed international mediators that they do not believe Hamas’ claim. They say they have information suggesting Hamas is capable of reaching at least 10 of the 13 bodies but is choosing not to do so for strategic reasons.

“Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The two Americans referenced by Trump are Itai Chen and Omer Neutra, both dual Israeli-American citizens who were serving in the IDF and killed on October 7, with their bodies abducted to Gaza by terrorists.

“Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,” Trump continued. “Perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said, ‘Both sides would be treated fairly,’ that only applies if they comply with their obligations.”

Technically, Hamas and Israel are still in Phase One of the ceasefire, which will conclude only after Hamas returns all the bodies. Once that happens, the ceasefire will enter Phase Two, which requires Hamas to disarm and surrender governing control of the Gaza Strip to another entity. Israeli analysts have suggested this may be why Hamas is dragging out the process.

“Let’s see what [Hamas does] over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely,” Trump concluded.

It remains unclear what “action” the United States and other guarantors of the agreement would take if Hamas fails to return the bodies within the 48-hour timeframe floated by Trump.