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 13, 2025, 12:17 PM EDT

5 hostages at Beilinson Hospital meeting mental health professionals, dietitian, physiotherapist

Five of the 20 living hostages who returned to Israel on Monday are being treated at Beilinson Hospital, part of Rabin Medical Center in Israel.

The five hostages -- Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Alon Ohel, Eitan Mor and Avinatan Or -- are undergoing “comprehensive medical evaluations,” hospital director Dr. Lena Koren said in a statement.

Freed Israeli hostage Avinatan Or gestures from a van as he arrives at Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, after he was released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Stripl, Oct. 13, 2025.
Ariel Schalit/AP

Freed Israeli hostage Avinatan Or gestures from a van as he arrives at Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, after he was released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Stripl, Oct. 13, 2025.
Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

“For each of them, we have assembled a dedicated and personalized medical team, including a physician, mental health professionals, a physiotherapist, and a dietitian," Koren said.

-ABC News Jordana Miller

Oct 13, 2025, 12:00 PM EDT

Released hostage Avinatan Or reunites with ex-hostage girlfriend

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.

Hostage Avinatan Or reunites with his girlfriend Noa Argamani after being released from Gaza, in Israel, Oct. 13, 2025.
IDF

Oct 13, 2025, 11:54 AM EDT

Trump greets world leaders at peace summit

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.

Oct 13, 2025, 11:43 AM EDT

Trump says he gave Hamas 'approval' to serve as police force for a time

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

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