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 13, 2025, 7:57 AM EDT

Trump: 'Time to translate these victories' into peace in Middle East

President Donald Trump said his speech to Israel’s Knesset on Monday, “Israel has won all that can be won by force of arms. Now, it is time to translate these victories … into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.”

“People are dancing in the streets, not just in Israel,” Trump said.

“This long and difficult war has now ended,” Trump said, though only the first phase of a ceasefire agreement has been brokered.

Trump’s remarks were met with frequent applause and standing ovations.

Trump will next travel to Egypt where he and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi are co-chairing an international peace summit.

Oct 13, 2025, 7:28 AM EDT

2 parliamentarians interrupt Trump's speech

Ayman Udah, an Arab-Israeli from Israel’s Hadash party, and his colleague, Ofer Kassif, a Jewish Israeli, interrupted President Donald Trump’s speech to the Knesset and were ejected from the parliament.

President Donald Trump addresses the Knesset, Israel's parliament, October 13, 2025 in Jerusalem.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

They raised a both raised signs, one of which was said to have read "genocide." At least one of the signs also appeared to say "Recognize Palestine."

An Israeli member of parliament holds a placard that reads: 'Recognize Palestine!' at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, during U.S. President Donald Trump's address, October 13, 2025 in Jerusalem.
Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via Getty Images

Trump’s remarks were otherwise met with frequent applause and standing ovations.

Oct 13, 2025, 7:15 AM EDT

Trump: 'Historic dawn of a new Middle East'

President Donald Trump said in his address to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, "This is not only the end of a war, this is the end of an age and terror and death."

"This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East. … Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change," he said.

President Donald Trump talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, Oct. 13, 2025, in Jerusalem.
Saul Loeb/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Trump’s remarks were met with frequent applause and standing ovations, as well as a brief interruption by someone in the crowd.

At the Knesset for Trump's speech was his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the latter having been involved in negotiations, as well as White House special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Many in the audience wore MAGA-style hats that read "Trump The Peace President."

Oct 13, 2025, 6:54 AM EDT

Netanyahu says Trump 'succeeded in doing something miraculous'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised and thanked President Donald Trump in his address to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on Monday.

President Donald Trump listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he addresses the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem, October 13, 2025.
Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

"At the beginning of the war, I promised to bring all the hostages home. Today, with the indispensable help, the determined and focus help, the unremitting help of President Trump ... and with the incredible sacrifice and courage of the soldiers of Israel, we are fulfilling that promise," Netanyahu said, with Trump looking on.

"Two weeks ago, you succeeded in doing something miraculous, you succeeded in doing something that no one believed was possible: you brought most of the Arab world -- you brought most of the world -- behind your proposal to free the hostages and end the war," he said to Trump.

"I've seen a lot of American presidents ... I’ve never seen anyone move the world so quickly, so decisively, so resolutely as our friend President Donald J. Trump," he said.

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