Trump hints at 'action' if Hamas doesn't return hostage bodies

The bodies of 13 deceased hostages are believed to still be in Gaza.

Last Updated: October 24, 2025, 10:52 AM EDT

U.S. officials -- including Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner -- traveled to Israel this week for high-level meetings, discussing the next steps in the delicate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal by withholding the bodies of the remaining 13 deceased hostages thought to have died during or after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas has said the return of the remaining bodies "may take some time" due to the destruction.

Oct 14, 2025, 3:27 PM EDT

Aid groups able to move freely in Gaza after IDF withdrawal, UN says

The United Nations and other aid organizations “have been able to move more freely across parts of Gaza from which Israeli forces have withdrawn,” since the first phase of the ceasefire deal went into effect, U.N. Deputy spokesperson for the Secretary General Farhan Haq said at a press briefing at U.N. headquarters in New York Tuesday.

"This improved access has allowed partners to scale up the response to the most urgent needs," Haq said.

World Health Organization teams reached Al Ahli Hospital with eight trucks of medical supplies on Monday, and their teams reached the European Hospital in Khan Younis to transfer critical medications and intensive care unit equipment to Nasser Hospital, Haq said.

"The U.N. and our humanitarian partners have also installed a solar panel for a desalination unit in Deir al Balah, as well as new telecommunications hardware to improve connectivity for affected people and humanitarian operations," Haq said.

Oct 14, 2025, 2:49 PM EDT

Red Cross on their way to retrieve more hostage bodies

Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross are on their way to retrieve the remains of several hostages held by Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

It is unclear how many remains will be handed over.

Oct 14, 2025, 2:48 PM EDT

'We'll disarm them,' Trump says of Hamas

Asked about how long it would take Hamas to disarm and if it can be guaranteed the group will do so, President Donald Trump said they would do so by force if necessary.

"If they don't disarm, we will disarm them. They know I'm not playing games. Now we did something monumental. We got the hostages back. That was the first thing we had to do," Trump said in response to a question from ABC News' Karen Travers at the White House on Tuesday.

Palestinian militants stand guard on the day that hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, are handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, October 13, 2025.
Ramadan Abed/Reuters

"I spoke to Hamas and I said, you're going to disarm, right? Yes sir, we're going to disarm. That's what they told me. They will disarm or we will disarm them," Trump said.

Oct 14, 2025, 1:18 PM EDT

3rd and 4th hostage remains returned to Israel have been identified

Two more hostages whose bodies was returned to Israel on Monday have been identified. Yossi Sharabi and Daniel Peretz are the third and fourth remains to be ID'd, Kibbuz Be’eri and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in statements Tuesday.

Sharabi was “kidnapped alive,” on Oct. 7 and “murdered in captivity,” Kibbutz Be’eri said in a release announcing the identification.

Yossi Sharabi, an Israeli hostage who was kidnapped in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, is pictured in this undated handout photo.
Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now via Reuters

“We miss our Yossi so deeply. He was a wonderful partner and a perfect father to Yuval, Ophir, and Oren. He was a kind-hearted man who always looked for ways to do good,” Nira Sharabi, his wife, said in the statements. “Now we can finally bring closure to the nightmare that began over two years ago and give Yossi the dignified and loving burial he deserves in the soil of Kibbutz Be'eri.”

Daniel Peretz, an Israeli hostage who was kidnapped in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, is pictured in this undated handout photo.
Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now via Reuters

Peretz, 22, was an Israel Defense Forces tank commander. He was stationed at Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7, 2023. Peretz was wounded and kidnapped on Oct. 7, and after 163 days in captivity, he was declared a fallen IDF soldier, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters said.

All four deceased hostages whose bodies were returned to Israel on Monday have now been identified.

-ABC News' Dana Savir, Jordana Miller and Anna Burd

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