Trump gives Hamas 48 hours to return the bodies of the deceased hostages
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President Donald Trump said Saturday that Hamas needs to begin returning the bodies of deceased hostages the terror group took during the war in Gaza “quickly, or other nations participating in this great peace will take action.”
While all living hostages were returned from Gaza, Hamas did not hand over the remains of the thirteen deceased hostages.
“Some bodies are hard to get to, but others can be returned now, and for some reason, they can’t,” Trump wrote in a message on Truth Social. mail. “Maybe it’s about disarming them, but when you said: Both sides will be treated fairly, that only applies if they stick to their commitments. Let’s see what they do in the next 48 hours. I’m watching this closely.”
Hours before Trump’s appointment, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with the families of Itai Chen and Omar Neutra, two US citizens killed in the October 7, 2023, attacks.
President Donald Trump stands with the agreement signed during a summit of world leaders focused on ending the Gaza war in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, October 13. (Susan Plunkett/Getty Images)
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Their bodies are among those still detained by Hamas.
“We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in Hamas captivity,” Rubio wrote in a post on X. “We will not rest until their remains and all their remains are returned.”
Authorities believe Chen, a 19-year-old American-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, but the Israeli military later declared him dead.
President Donald Trump signed the agreement at a summit of world leaders on ending the war in Gaza amid a US-brokered prisoner and hostage exchange and a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13. (Reuters)
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Neutra, 21, an American-Israeli from New York, was killed in battle on October 7, 2023.
Huckabee noted that Rubio’s visit to Israel was “very productive in moving forward” the US-brokered Gaza peace plan, adding that the plan cannot succeed until all hostages, living and dead, are released.
While traveling to Asia on Saturday, Trump met with Qatari leaders aboard Air Force One while refueling at Al Udeid Air Base.
People wave Israeli and American flags in Hostage Square during a march in support of hostages and missing families following the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas. (Dana Rainey/Missing Hostages and Families Forum)
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Qatar has played an important role in efforts to negotiate peace and a ceasefire in Gaza.
After a meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Trump said, “The Emir is one of the greatest rulers in the world… and the Prime Minister was my friend.”
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Referring to the peace agreement, the president said: “What we did is incredible – peace in the Middle East.”
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.