Published On 16/10/2025
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Last update: 08:53 (Mecca time)
US President Donald Trump said yesterday evening, Wednesday, that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is definitely searching for the bodies of the remaining Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, some of which are under the rubble, and that the matter “will go well,” after Israeli officials questioned the movement’s commitment to the issue of returning the bodies.
This comes as Israel threatened to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas did not adhere to all the terms of the ceasefire agreement, especially the return of the remaining bodies of prisoners, following the movement’s announcement that it was not possible to return more of them to Israel for logistical reasons.
Trump confirmed that Hamas is already digging in search of the bodies of the prisoners, and that some of the bodies have been buried for a long time and some are under rubble and in deep tunnels.
He added, “They are looking for them, of course. There are living hostages and they have all returned, and they brought back more bodies today. This is a lengthy process.”
Resume fighting
This confirmation came from President Trump after he said – in previous statements reported by CNN – that Israeli forces may resume fighting in Gaza with just a word he says, if Hamas does not adhere to the ceasefire agreement.
He added that he would think about what would happen if Hamas refused to give up its weapons, stressing that liberating detainees from Gaza was extremely important.
On the other hand, a senior American advisor said that great success had been achieved in the first phase of implementing the ceasefire agreement according to President Trump’s plan, and that the transition to the second phase of the agreement was now underway.
He added that the focus in the short term remains on calming the conflict to ensure that unnecessary provocations are not carried out, and that Washington intends to continue working with the two parties and urging them to exercise restraint and create the appropriate conditions for the disarmament of Gaza.
He stressed that there is no indication of any violation of the agreement and that the international stability force concerned with Gaza has begun to form, noting that many countries have expressed their willingness to participate in this force.
The American official also stressed that the priorities now are to end the conflict, provide humanitarian aid, and recover the bodies of the remaining hostages.
Accused of slowness
Axios quoted American and Israeli officials as saying that Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer spoke to American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and accused Hamas of being slow in returning the bodies.
The officials expressed their fear that parties within Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, especially the Ministers of Finance and National Security, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, would exploit the issue of the prisoners’ bodies to undermine the agreement and push for the resumption of the war.
Israeli officials said that Israel had informed the Trump administration of its commitment to moving forward with the second phase of the agreement, but that the transition to this phase would be faster if the bodies were returned quickly.
Another American official also stated that Hamas will return all the bodies, but it will take time, and that his country will continue to work on that, stressing Washington’s keenness to continue the ceasefire agreement and not allow it to collapse.
Israeli threat
On the other hand, a statement from the Israeli Defense Minister’s office said that Minister Yisrael Katz issued his directives to prepare a plan to comprehensively subjugate Hamas in Gaza if it refuses to implement President Trump’s plan and Israel is forced to resume fighting.
The statement added that Katz held a meeting yesterday, Wednesday, with the Chief of Staff and the army leadership to discuss the forces’ preparations in Gaza.
The Israeli Defense Minister’s office added that as part of Trump’s plan, Hamas must return all its detainees and disarm it.
A statement from Katz’s office threatened to return to fighting in coordination with the United States if Hamas refused to implement the agreement, pledging to completely defeat the movement, change the reality in Gaza, and achieve all the goals of the war, he said.
These statements and the threat to return to fighting again come at a time when an Al Jazeera correspondent reported earlier that the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, handed over the bodies of two Israeli prisoners to the Red Cross in Gaza City.
The handover process was preceded by Al-Qassam’s announcement that the resistance had adhered to what had been agreed upon, and had handed over all its living prisoners and the bodies it could reach.
She added that the remaining bodies require great efforts and special equipment to search for and extract them, stressing that she is making a great effort to close this file.
On October 10, the first phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, according to President Trump’s plan, entered into force.
Under it, Hamas and the resistance factions released 20 Israeli prisoners alive, and handed over to the Israeli side the bodies of a number of dead prisoners, while Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, in addition to 1,718 whom it arrested from the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023.
More than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners – including children and women – are still languishing in occupation prisons, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect. Many of them have been martyred, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
With American support, Israel has committed genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 67,913 martyrs and 170,134 wounded – most of them children and women – and a famine that claimed the lives of 463 Palestinians, including 157 children.