WASHINGTON, D.C. : U.S. President Donald Trump provided a graphic account on Wednesday of Hamas’s efforts to locate the bodies of the remaining deceased hostages in Gaza, describing the process as “gruesome” and complex due to the conditions of the conflict zone.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the President confirmed that the militant group is actively searching for the remains, an apparent requirement of the ongoing hostage and ceasefire negotiations.
“It’s a gruesome process… They’re digging and they’re finding a lot of bodies. Then they have to separate the bodies,” President Trump stated. He elaborated on the difficulties faced by the search teams, noting that the bodies have been in various states of recovery, with some trapped beneath debris.
“Some of those bodies have been in there a long time, and some of them are under rubble. They have to remove rubble,” he continued. “Some are in tunnels… that are way down under the earth.”
The President also forcefully reiterated his demand for Hamas to disarm, indicating that compliance is a mandatory step in the broader peace framework.
Anticipating questions regarding the militant group’s future military capacity, Trump stated, “We want the weapons to be given… They’ve agreed to do it. Now they have to do it. If they don’t do it, we’ll do it.”
However, President Trump clarified that any necessary military intervention against Hamas, should the group refuse to surrender its weapons, would not directly involve the U.S. military. This statement seeks to draw a clear line around the extent of American involvement in enforcing the terms of the de-escalation agreement.
The President’s remarks come as the delicate ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, which secured the return of all remaining living hostages, enters its next phases, with the return of deceased remains and the question of Gaza’s future governance and security now taking center stage.
