Hamas handed over the bodies of two more hostages to the Red Cross, the militants still have the remains of 19 more. Trump threatened Hamas with renewed fighting

Hamas handed over the bodies of two more hostages to the Red Cross, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said . Since Monday, Israel has received the bodies of only 9 of the 28 people who died in the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 and later in captivity by militants. Against this background, US President Donald Trump threatened to resume hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Red Cross, two bodies of the dead hostages are currently on their way to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF Telegram channel.

According to Ynet, Hamas representatives said in an evening address that they had returned to Israel all the bodies “that they could get their hands on”:

“As for the remaining victims, significant efforts and special equipment are required to search and rescue them,” the group said in a statement.

Since Monday, October 13, Hamas has handed over the bodies of eight people to Israel ( 1 , 2 ). At the same time, as Israeli media later reported, forensic experts were able to identify only three of the four bodies that were delivered from the Gaza Strip on October 14. The fourth body received from Hamas was that of an unknown Gaza resident.

Thus, on the morning of October 15, the group held the remains of 21 hostages. If two more bodies returned to Israel late Wednesday are identified as the remains of hostages, that figure would be reduced to 19.

However, under the terms of the deal between Israel and Hamas, the militants were to hand over the bodies of 28 people to the Israeli side.

Against this background, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would consider allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume military operations in the Gaza Strip if Hamas does not comply with the terms of the agreement, CNN writes. We are talking, among other things, about compliance with one of the points of the plan, according to which, after the return of all hostages, Hamas members can be amnestied subject to disarmament:

“[If this is not done,] the Israeli army will return to the streets [of Gaza] if I just say the word. If Israel could go and smash them to smithereens, it would,” the American leader said, also mentioning evidence of extrajudicial killings in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, on October 13, Hamas handed over to Israel all the surviving hostages: the first group included 7 people, the second - 13.