US President Donald Trump says Hamas is looking for the bodies of the remaining deceased hostages held in Gaza.
“It’s a gruesome process… They’re digging and they’re finding a lot of bodies. Then they have to separate the bodies,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office..
“Some of those bodies have been in there a long time, and some of them are under rubble. They have to remove rubble,” he continues. “Some are in tunnels… that are way down under the earth.”
Predicting that the next question will be about whether Hamas will disarm, Trump reiterates, “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.”
He clarifies that the US military won’t be directly involved if intervention against Hamas is needed.
Trump claims Arab countries wouldn’t have agreed to get behind his plan for ending the war in Gaza had the US not struck Iran’s nuclear sites.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
