President Donald Trump on Saturday said Hamas needs to start returning the bodies of deceased hostages held captive by the terror group during the war in Gaza ‘quickly, or the other countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action.’
While all the living hostages have been returned from Gaza, the remains of 13 deceased hostages have not been handed over by Hamas.
‘Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,’ Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. ‘Perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said, ‘Both sides would be treated fairly,’ that only applies if they comply with their obligations. Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely.’
Hours before Trump’s post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with the families of Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, two U.S. citizens who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
Their bodies are among those still being held by Hamas.
‘We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in the captivity of Hamas,’ Rubio wrote in an X post. ‘We will not rest until their—and all—remains are returned.’
Authorities believed Chen, a 19-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, but was later declared dead by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Neutra, 21, an American-Israeli from New York, was killed in battle on Oct. 7, 2023.
Huckabee noted Rubio’s visit to Israel was ‘very productive in moving forward’ the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan, adding the plan cannot work until all hostages, living and deceased, are released.
While traveling to Asia Saturday, Trump met with Qatari leaders aboard Air Force One while refueling at Al-Udeid Air Base.
Qatar has played a significant role in efforts to negotiate peace and ceasefires in Gaza.
After a meeting with Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Trump said ‘The Emir is one of the great rulers of the world … and the Prime Minister has been my friend.’
Referencing the peace deal, the president said, ‘What we’ve done is incredible — peace in the Middle East.’
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.