Trump: If Hamas doesn’t fulfill ceasefire deal Israel could ‘return to those streets’

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 15: U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on October 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel provided an update on the Trump administration’s progress in reducing violent crime. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House on October 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:50 PM – Thursday, October 16, 2025

President Donald Trump has warned of the consequences for Hamas if they fail to return the remaining hostages and submit to disarmament.

Early this week, Hamas and Israel entered the first phase of the U.S.-orchestrated peace deal to end the two-year war.

The terrorist group returned a portion of the Israeli and foreign hostages it has held captive since October 7, 2023, the first major stipulation of the deal. The 20 surviving hostages returned to Israel on Monday, marking a triumph of the Trump administration’s efforts in the Middle East.

However, Hamas has failed to return most of the 28 deceased hostages within the 72-hour window outlined in the agreement, including two Israeli-American citizens.

So far, nine deceased hostages have been returned, and 19 bodies remain in Gaza. Hamas’s military wing has said that “significant efforts and equipment” are needed in order to recover the bodies of the remaining hostages.

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Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed branch, said on Wednesday that it had “abided by what was agreed upon, and has handed over all the living captives in its possession and the corpses it could access.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called the lack of progress on finding the rest of the bodies “a failure to uphold commitments.”

Currently, the United States does not believe Hamas has violated its commitment to the ceasefire agreement.

Two U.S. advisers announced that the U.S. is working to provide intelligence and support to locate the missing bodies. Due to the years-long war in the area, the rubble and debris may have buried some of the deceased hostages, proving difficult for Hamas to locate most of them.

“We’ve heard a lot of people saying, well, you know, Hamas violated the deal because not all the bodies have been returned. I think the understanding we had with them was we get all the live hostage hostages out, which they did honor that,” one of the U.S. advisers said, according to CNN. “And right now, we have a mechanism in place where we’re working closely with the mediators and with them to do our best to get as many bodies out as possible.”

“In a 72-hour ceasefire period, I think it would have been almost impossible for Hamas to mobilize, even if they knew where all the 28 bodies were, to mobilize and get them home,” the second adviser said.

President Trump seems to feel differently, as he has considered allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume military action in Gaza if Hamas fails to complete its side of the deal.

In a phone call with CNN on Wednesday, the president told the network, “What’s going on with Hamas — that’ll be straightened out quickly.”

Tensions are rising in Israel as days go by without receiving the remaining bodies. Authorities told the United Nations (UN) that humanitarian aid shipments headed for Gaza may be reduced or delayed because of the limited number of deceased hostages that have been returned to Israel.

Trump emphasized that “getting those 20 hostages out was paramount,” regarding the survivors.

When asked what he foresaw happening if Hamas refused to disarm, the second phase of the agreement, Trump responded, “I think about it, Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word. If Israel could go in and knock the crap out of them they’d do that.”

Trump also noted that he had to “hold them back,” referring to Netanyahu’s defense forces.

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