US denies Hamas violating ceasefire deal, vows no hostage will be ‘left behind’ in Gaza

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.”

A second top Trump adviser on the briefing — also speaking on condition of anonymity — says, “Hamas did the right thing when they gave all of the 20 live hostages up at the same time. That was a big moment.”

The second Trump adviser notes that it was only possible to begin retrieving bodies once the ceasefire came into place last week, given that Gaza had been an active war zone.

The amount of debris in Gaza dwarfs what was left after the World Trade Center was bombed on 9/11, the second Trump aide claims. “On top of all that debris is a lot of unexploded ordinance, and presumably, under that… there are many bodies.”

“It would have been almost impossible for Hamas — even if they knew where all the 28 bodies were — to mobilize and get them all,” says the second Trump adviser.

“First we got three. Then we got four. Then we got another four,” the aide continues, citing incorrect figures on the number of bodies Hamas returned. It transferred four bodies on both Monday and Tuesday, though one of those was later identified as a Palestinian, while only two bodies — not four — were returned on Wednesday.

“We’re probably going to put together some program where we’re going to ask [Gazans] to see if they can help us to locate bodies, and we’re going to pay rewards for that type of good behavior,” the second Trump adviser reveals.

He adds that the US has been in touch with Turkey, which is willing to send experts to help retrieve bodies, as they have experiences derived from earthquakes. It’s unclear whether Israel will accept such assistance, given the bad blood between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has likened the Israeli leader to Hitler.

“The sentiment in Israel is always [that Hamas] can do more. What we basically say to the Israeli side… is, ‘Give us whatever intelligence you’re hearing or seeing… If you think that there’s something [the mediators or Hamas] could be doing or should be doing that you don’t think they’re doing, then pass it over and we’ll convey it,” the first Trump adviser says.

While recognizing that it’s a complex effort. the second Trump adviser stresses that the US is committed to retrieving all remaining bodies of hostages.

“We’re not going to leave here until everybody comes home… Nobody is getting left behind,” he says.