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.
President Donald Trump is threatening to "go in and kill" Hamas members in Gaza after Hamas-linked gunmen appeared to carry out a public execution in Gaza this week.
"If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump posted on Truth Social.
This comes afterHamas-linked gunmen appeared to carry out a public execution in Gaza on Monday, according to an eyewitness and video verified by ABC News. The video shows seven men blindfolded and kneeling at gunpoint as masked fighters were poised to shoot them in the head from behind. An edit from Reuters freezes the video at the moment shots are fired but the audio of gunshots continues.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal by withholding the bodies of the remaining 19 deceased hostages.
“We know for sure that Hamas can easily release a significant number of [deceased] hostages in accordance with the agreement,” Sa’ar said on Thursday. “What they are doing now is a fundamental violation of the agreement.”
Hamas has handed over the bodies of nine deceased hostages this week and released all 20 living hostages.
“We share our concerns with our American friends, and we expect the mediators to help resolve this problem immediately,” Sa’ar said. “This is very important, because it is about playing with the feelings of families who have suffered enough for more than two years.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Thursday also called on Hamas to “fulfill its obligations under the deal.”
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Othon Leyva
Oct 16, 2025, 4:52 AM EDT
Remains of 2 hostages identified, IDF says
Israeli officials identified on Thursday the remains of two hostages returned by Hamas the prior evening, saying they were Inbar Hayman, 27, and Muhammad Al-Atresh, 39.
Their families "were informed that their loved ones have been brought back to Israel for burial," Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, said in a statement on Thursday.
Hayman had been at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, Shoshani said. She was killed and her body was taken into Gaza, he said.
An image of Inbar Hayman, an Israeli hostage who was killed in Gaza, is displayed as supporters and family members of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas on Sept. 27, 2025.
Nir Elias/Reuters
"Our beloved Inbar has come home. To her parents, to her brother, to us," Hayman’s family said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. "This is a feeling that cannot be described, joy mingled with profound sadness. Now Inbar will receive the rest and honor she so deeply deserves."
Al-Atresh was a sergeant major in the IDF’s Northern Gaza Brigade.
"He fell on the morning of Oct. 7, and his body was taken by Hamas," Shoshani said. "He leaves behind his parents, siblings, two wives, and 13 children."
Muhammad Al-Atarash, 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
The youngest of his children was born about two months before Al-Atresh was abducted, the Forum said. That organization and other groups have used alternative spellings for his surname, writing it as Al-Atrash, El-Atrash or al-Atarash.
"A serious man who always took care of his entire family," the Forum said, describing Al-Atresh. "Muhammad loved raising horses and dreamed of establishing a horse farm and a livestock area with sheep and goats."
Oct 15, 2025, 7:44 PM EDT
Command center overseeing Gaza rebuild to become operational in coming days: Officials
A U.S.-led coordination center based in Israel that will oversee implementation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza is expected to become operational in the coming days, two U.S. officials told ABC News.
The command center, which is tasked with coordinating security, aid and rebuilding efforts inside Gaza, is initially expected to be led by a U.S. three-star general, who has not been identified publicly. The commander is expected to have a foreign deputy, who would be the equivalent of a two-star officer, the officials said.
Buildings destroyed during two years of Israeli army bombardments are seen near the seashore in Gaza City, Oct. 15, 2025.
AP
The center is located inside Israel, just northeast of Gaza, at a location not being disclosed to the public for security reasons. Officials said the center will not be located on an Israeli military base to ensure it can remain open to officials from other countries involved in the rebuilding of Gaza.
The center is seen as being key to executing the extraordinary logistics involved in trying to rebuild and secure Gaza after two years of war. The U.S. and other countries are still discussing what an international security force might look like and how it would operate inside the strip, as well as how food and other aid will be distributed.
Trump has already sent 200 U.S. troops to coordinate the heavy lift; those military units specialize in transportation, planning, logistics and security. They will be working alongside representatives from other partner nations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.
Sources said the command center is starting off slow, reaching what the military calls "initial operational capability" in the coming days.
