Israel – Times of Israel, Oct. 16, 2025
The US denies that Hamas is violating the ceasefire deal with Israel, insisting that a dragged out process to return the bodies of hostages held in Gaza was expected, given the difficult conditions on the ground.
“We’ve heard a lot of people saying, ‘Hamas violated the deal, because not all the bodies have been returned.’ The understanding we had with them was we get all the live hostages out, which they did honor that,” says a senior adviser to US President Donald Trump during a briefing with reporters.
“Right now, we have a mechanism in place where we’re working closely with mediators… to do our best to get as many bodies out as possible,” the senior aide says on condition of anonymity. “We continue to give [the mediators] the intelligence that the Israelis have [on where bodies may be located] and we keep working in good faith until we are able to exhaust that mechanism.”
