The US president told reporters that the bodies of Israelis who died in captivity in Gaza are \u2018being unearthed\u2019.<\/p>\n
Published On 11 Oct 202511 Oct 2025<\/p>\n
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Israelis held in Gaza by Hamas and other armed groups are slated to \u201ccome back\u201d on Monday, United States President Donald Trump said, with 20 living captives and the bodies of 28 others who died in captivity due to be handed over as part of the US-backed ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters at the White House late on Friday, Trump said Monday will be \u201cbig\u201d as Hamas exchanges all 48 Israeli captives, both living and deceased, for roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSome of those bodies are being unearthed right now, as we speak. They\u2019re working on it right now,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tragedy. It\u2019s a tragedy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Of the living captives still held in Gaza, the US president added, \u201cthey\u2019re in some pretty rough places, where only some people know where they are\u201d.<\/p>\n
Trump said he plans to travel to Cairo this weekend and separately speak at the Israeli Knesset before returning to the US.<\/p>\n
Under the terms of the US-brokered peace deal for Gaza, Hamas agreed to release all captives within 72 hours following the start of a ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s government ratified the ceasefire in the early hours of Friday, and it came into force later in the day. Israeli troops then began to withdraw from areas in Gaza to designated locations, and the countdown began on the 72 hours for Hamas to release captives.<\/p>\n
Reports surfaced earlier this week that Hamas may struggle to locate and gather the remains of all the deceased captives, potentially complicating the planned exchange on Monday.<\/p>\n
As Palestinians began to return to their war-torn homes<\/a> on Friday amid the Israeli pullback, key questions about Gaza\u2019s future remain uncertain \u2013 including plans for a future Palestinian state.<\/p>\n