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ABC News

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

PHOTO: Protesters call for the release of all the bodies of hostages held in Gaza during an event in Tel Aviv on Oct. 25, 2025.
4:39
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
JD Vance criticizes Israel's parliament vote on West Bank annexation
By Kevin Shalvey, Jon Haworth, Emily Shapiro, Nadine El-Bawab, David Brennan
Last Updated: October 27, 2025, 7:39 AM

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

  • Egyptian resources deployed in Gaza to help locate, recover Israeli hostage remains
  • Netanyahu says Israel, not US, will decide security policy
  • Trump hints at 'action' if Hamas doesn't return hostage bodies 'quickly’
  • Rubio says West Bank annexation would 'threaten this whole process'
  • Aid allowed into Gaza is still falling short of what is needed, WHO head says
Here's how the news is developing.

Oct 27, 2025 7:39 AM

Egyptian resources deployed in Gaza to help locate, recover Israeli hostage remains

Egyptian state-linked media confirmed Saturday evening that the country has deployed equipment and a specialized team to the Gaza Strip to help locate and recover the bodies of Israeli hostages who remain missing.

Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya also confirmed that “new areas will be entered” on Sunday to search for the bodies of the missing hostages, according to a write-up on Hamas’ official website summarizing Al-Hayya’s interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday.

"We will not give the occupation a pretext to resume the war. ... We have no reservations on any national figure residing in Gaza to administer the Gaza Strip. ... Our weapons are linked to the presence of occupation and aggression; if the occupation ends, these weapons will be transferred to the state," al-Hayya added in the Al Jazeera interview.

-ABC News' Ayat Altawy, Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller and Samy Zyara


Oct 27, 2025 7:39 AM

Netanyahu says Israel, not US, will decide security policy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a Sunday cabinet meeting to push back on recent suggestions that the U.S. is dictating security policy on Gaza.

"Israel is an independent state, the United States is an independent state," Netanyahu said.

PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen soldiers of the War, at Mt. Herzl, In Jerusalem, Oct. 16, 2025.
Alex Kolomoisky/Pool via AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen soldiers of the War, at Mt. Herzl, In Jerusalem, Oct. 16, 2025.
Alex Kolomoisky/Pool via AP

"The relations between us are those of partners," he said, adding, "I want to make one thing clear -- it is our own security policy. We are not prepared to tolerate attacks against us, we respond according to our own discretion against attacks, as we have seen in Lebanon and in Gaza."

Netanyahu also said Israel is not seeking approval for military attacks and addressed the issue of international teams meant to monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza.

"We control our own security and we have made it clear to the international forces that Israel will determine which forces are acceptable to us, and that is how we operate and will continue to operate," he said.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Victoria Beaule


Oct 27, 2025 7:39 AM

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

President Donald Trump pressed Hamas to return the bodies of all deceased hostages or face "action" from nations involved in the Gaza ceasefire plan.

PHOTO: Protesters call for the release of all the bodies of hostages held in Gaza during an event in Tel Aviv on Oct. 25, 2025.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
Protesters call for the release of all the bodies of hostages held in Gaza during an event in Tel Aviv on Oct. 25, 2025.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

"We have a very strong PEACE in the Middle East, and I believe it has a good chance of being EVERLASTING," Trump wrote in a Saturday social media post.

"Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action," Trump added.

The bodies of 13 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza. Hamas committed to returning all living and deceased captives being held in the strip as part of the ceasefire deal reached earlier this month. All 20 living hostages and the bodies of 15 deceased captives have so far been released.

Hamas officials have said the group is continuing to search for the remaining hostage bodies, saying the devastation caused by Israel's attacks on Gaza has complicated recovery efforts.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie



Oct 24, 2025 3:14 PM

Rubio names US ambassador to Yemen as the civilian lead for ceasefire monitoring

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has named U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Steven Fagin as the "civilian lead" of the Civil-Military Coordination Center, in charge of monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza.

Fagin, will join the military lead for the operation, Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, and 200 servicemembers from U.S. Central Command -- with expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics and engineering -- who are staffing the hub.

PHOTO: Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the media after visiting the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel on October 24, 2025.
Fadel Senna/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the media after visiting the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel on October 24, 2025.
Fadel Senna/POOL/AFP via Getty Images


Frank briefed Rubio today at the center, according to the television pool.

Rubio promised more diplomats would arrive at the hub, as well as personnel from partner nations who are involved in shoring up the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Trump Administration officials said the hub will have representatives from partner nations, NGOs, international institutions and the private sector to support stabilization efforts.


Oct 13, 2025 3:13 PM

Trump arrives in Egypt for peace summit, says phase 2 of ceasefire negotiations has started

President Donald Trump has arrived in Egypt where he and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi are co-chairing an international peace summit.

PHOTO: Map of President Trump's main locations in Israel and Egypt during Israel and Gaza Peace Plan
Google Earth
President Trump's main locations in Israel and Egypt during Israel and Gaza Peace Plan
Google Earth

Trump will attend a ceremony to mark the signing of phase one of the ceasefire agreement.

Before the signing, as Trump sat with El-Sisi, he said that phase two of ceasefire negotiations has started.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump talks with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Evan Vucci/AP
President Donald Trump talks with Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Evan Vucci/AP

PHOTO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi meets President Donald Trump ahead of a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi meets President Donald Trump ahead of a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters


"The phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other," Trump said, adding, "You’re gonna start cleaning up. You look at Gaza, it needs a lot of cleanup."

A reporter asked Trump what the next steps are now that the living hostages have been returned, and the president responded, "They're looking for bodies ... they're gonna be finding quite a few of them."

Sitting alongside Trump were White House special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who Witkoff praised for his work in the negotiations.

The summit is being attended by leaders from more than 20 countries, a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency said, and it aims “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability."


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