The bodies of 13 deceased hostages are believed to still be in Gaza.
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.
Avinatan Or, one of the last 20 living hostages released from Gaza on Monday, has reunited with his girlfriend, former hostage Noa Argamani. Or was seen kissing a beaming Argamani on her cheek in a newly released photo.
Or and Argamani were both kidnapped at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, and were immediately separated. Argamani was rescued from Gaza last year.
President Donald Trump is greeting world leaders at a peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, that's marking the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
According to a source in the Egyptian president’s office, attendees of the summit include: the king of Jordan, the emir of Qatar, the emir of Kuwait, the Saudi foreign minister, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the vice president of the United Arab Emirates, the secretary-general of the United Nations, the chancellor of Germany, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair and the prime ministers of the U.K., Italy, Spain, Pakistan, Canada, Iraq and Norway.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited but is not at the summit. He said he could not attend because Monday night to Wednesday night marks the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.
A reporter asked President Donald Trump about his message to Hamas following reports of the group rearming themselves as a Palestinian police force during the ceasefire agreement. Trump responded, "We gave them approval for a period of time."
"They do want to stop the problems, and they've been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time," he said of Hamas.
“We want it to be safe. I think it's going to be fine,” he said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.
-ABC News' Fritz Farrow
The coffins of two of the 28 deceased hostages still in Gaza have been transferred to the Red Cross and are “on their way” to Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, the IDF said in a statement.
“Following this, there will be an additional transfer of another two coffins of deceased hostages,” the IDF said.
The Hostage Families Forum said they learned that only four of the 28 hostage bodies will be returned on Monday, and the group blasted Hamas for its “blatant breach of the agreement.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the return of only four bodies is a “failure to meet commitments” of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, and he said “any delay or deliberate avoidance will be considered a blatant violation of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly.”
