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

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

ByKevin Shalvey, Jon Haworth, Emily Shapiro, Nadine El-Bawab, and David Brennan
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.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Oct 17, 2025, 12:03 PM EDT

Photos: Crews search for bodies of Israeli hostages

New photos show Hamas members on Friday searching for the bodies of remaining Israeli hostages in Khan Younis in Gaza.

Palestinians watch members of the Hamas militant group searching for bodies of the hostages in an area in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 17, 2025.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Palestinians watch members of the Hamas militant group searching for bodies of the hostages in an area in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 17, 2025.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

The bodies of 19 deceased hostages remain in Gaza. Hamas has handed over the bodies of nine deceased hostages this week and released all 20 living hostages. Releasing all hostages, including the deceased, is part of the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas.

PHOTO: Palestinians gather near a site where searches are underway for the bodies of hostages killed after being seized by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 17, 2025.
Palestinians gather near a site where searches are underway for the bodies of hostages killed after being seized by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 17, 2025.
Stringer via Reuters

Oct 17, 2025, 6:53 AM EDT

Netanyahu says Israel 'will know how to act' if remaining bodies aren't returned

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel could act if bodies of the hostages held by Hamas are not returned to Israel.

"I know exactly how many hostage bodies Hamas is holding and, if we don't receive them, Israel will know how to act accordingly," Netanyahu said on Thursday night.

"As the Prime Minister has emphasized, the 20-point plan enables all of Israel’s war objectives to be met once it is implemented. Namely, the dismantlement of Hamas capabilities, the demilitarization of Gaza and the deradicalization of radical Palestinians," said Ophir Falk, foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu.

"If it’s not implemented Israel will have to carry out more -- from a much better place than we were last week. Now that all the live hostages have been freed. Military operations will be much easier to carry out if needed,” said Falk.

Oct 16, 2025, 6:35 PM EDT

Returning remaining hostage bodies 'may take some time': Hamas

Returning the bodies of the remaining hostages that are held in Gaza "may take some time," Hamas said Thursday.

The bodies are "buried in tunnels" that were destroyed by Israeli military action, Hamas said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump discussed the "issue of the return" of the dead hostages during a phone call Thursday, Israeli hostage coordinator Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch said in a statement to hostage families.

"The contact between us and the Americans and the mediators continues continuously, the pressure on Hamas continues and will intensify," Hirsch said.

Oct 16, 2025, 6:19 PM EDT

Trump says US troops would not go into Gaza after issuing threat to 'kill' Hamas members

President Donald Trump clarified that U.S. troops would not be going into Gaza after he posted on social media earlier Thursday that Hamas should stop killing people in Gaza or else "we will have no choice but to go in and kill them."

"I didn’t say who would go in but somebody will go in. It's not going to be us. We won't have to," Trump told reporters. "There are people very close, very nearby, that will go in, they'll do the trick very easily. But under our auspices."

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa

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