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Donald Trump said he has told Hamas to disarm or “we will disarm them” as the militant group handed four more bodies of deceased hostages to Israel on Tuesday night.
Trump said he passed on the message to Hamas through intermediaries, saying: “I spoke to Hamas, and I said, you're going to disarm, right? Yes, sir, we're going to disarm. That's what they told me”.
"If they don't disarm, we will disarm them. And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently," Trump said, adding Hamas "took out two very evil gangs" in Gaza and "killed a number of them".
Trump’s warning came as re-emergent Hamas fighters demonstrated they were reasserting control in Gaza by deploying hundreds of security forces in the streets and executing several people they accused of collaborating with Israel.
With four more bodies returned on Tuesday night, Hamas has now handed over eight coffins of dead hostages, leaving at least 19 presumed dead and one unaccounted for still in the Gaza Strip.
The bodies were returned after Israel announced it would cut in half the number of humanitarian aid going into Gaza to pressure Hamas as Israel accused the militant group of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Trump: Hamas must disarm or we will disarm them
Donald Trump has said he wants the deceased hostages in Gaza to be released and warned Hamas that if they “don’t disarm, we will disarm them”.
The US president was speaking during a meeting in the White House with Argentinian president Javier Milei.
"If they don't disarm, we will disarm them,” he said.
Trump said he communicated this to Hamas and they had agreed to disarm, as his 20-point peace proposal stated.
"I spoke to Hamas, and I said, you're going to disarm, right? Yes, sir, we're going to disarm. That's what they told me," Trump said, later clarifying that he passed the message through intermediaries.
Trump said he communicated this to Hamas and they had agreed to disarm, as his 20-point peace proposal stated.
The comments came as the Red Cross is believed to be at a meeting point where Hamas is set to return the bodies of four more hostages, meaning there would be 20 bodies remaining in Gaza.
Shweta Sharma15 October 2025 04:54
Israel receives remains of 4 more deceased hostages
Hamas released four more bodies of hostages, Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday night, after the Israeli military ramped up pressure on the fragile ceasefire.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed late Tuesday that authorities received four deceased hostages that the Red Cross handed over to Israeli military authorities inside Gaza.
The bodies will be taken to the National Centre for Forensic Medicine where they will be identified and the families notified.
This latest transfer of remains comes a day after Israel received the bodies of four other dead hostages.
An Israeli military agency said it would slash aid deliveries to Gaza by half over concerns that the militant group was handing over remains more slowly than agreed.
Shweta Sharma15 October 2025 03:52
In focus | What we know about ‘phase two’ of Trump’s ceasefire deal
“A new and beautiful day is rising and now the rebuilding begins,” Donald Trump told world leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, heralding the success of the first phase of his peace agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war.
If the “first phase” sought to address the key demands of both sides – namely a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of the hostages to Israel – the second would focus on rebuilding the enclave in a way that guarantees lasting peace and security.
Trump acknowledged on Monday that the path to peace will be winding. The phases of the deal are “all a little bit mixed in with each other”, he said, assuring later that elements can still be taken “out of order in a positive way”.
Our foreign affairs reporter James Clark Reynolds writes:
Alex Croft15 October 2025 03:00
Trump declares Phase Two of ceasefire has begun - with no further detail
Donald Trump has announced the beginning of phase two of a Gaza deal, amid a darkening outlook for the ceasefire agreement as Israel delays aid and Hamas tightened its grip on the enclave.
“ALL TWENTY HOSTAGES ARE BACK AND FEELING AS GOOD AS CAN BE EXPECTED,” the US president wrote on Truth Social.
“A big burden has been lifted, but the job IS NOT DONE. THE DEAD HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED, AS PROMISED!
“Phase Two begins right NOW!!!”
Alex Croft15 October 2025 02:03
Hostage families thank Trump for 'determination'
On Tuesday evening, a group of family members of the hostages gave statements at Ichilov Hospital.
Lishay Miran-Lavi, the wife of captivity survivor Omri Miran, thanked the Trump administration for their “determination” in bringing the hostages home.
“I am so thankful to the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, for being available for us, for opening up the White House to us at any time, even when no one else spoke to us,” she said.
“Your determination has brought us this wonderful moment.”
Speaking of Mr Miran, she said there were points where he “thought it was going to be over” and “thought the end was near”.
“In recent weeks, the fighting was right above his head in Gaza,” she added.
Viki Cohen, the mother of survivor Nimrod Cohen, said Monday was one of the “most emotional days of my life”.
She said: “The anticipation, the anxiety, the uncertainty, it all became distilled in one single moment, a moment of great excitement.
“I cannot describe how moved I was in those moments when I was united with Nimrod. We did not say a single word. We just hugged each other and we just let the tears flow.”
She also thanked the Trump administration, who she said did “everything to make Nimrod come back to me”.
Alex Croft15 October 2025 01:00
Iran says US president's invitation to dialogue is contradictory
Iran's foreign ministry on Tuesday criticised US president Donald Trump's call for dialogue, accusing Washington of "hostile and criminal behaviour" following his remarks to the Israeli parliament about being ready to strike a deal with Tehran.
In June, the US joined Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities after five rounds of indirect nuclear talks with Tehran that stalled over issues like domestic nuclear enrichment.
Western countries accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, but Tehran maintains its nuclear programme is only for civilian purposes.
Alex Croft15 October 2025 00:00
Human rights watchdog says UK ‘risks over-policing’ Palestine Action protests in warning to home secretary
The home secretary has been warned by Europe’s human rights watchdog that the UK “risks over-policing” Palestine Action protests.
Michael O’Flaherty, commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, has asked the government to ensure counter-terrorism laws do not “unnecessarily restrict freedom of peaceful assembly”.
He also called for a comprehensive review of the UK’s protest legislation following a range of recent and upcoming changes placing tighter restrictions demonstrations to ensure they comply with international human rights laws, including the European Convention on Human Rights.
It comes after 2,000 people have been arrested in a series of major protests over the decision to designate Palestine Action as a proscribed terrorist organisation.
Our crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin writes:
Alex Croft14 October 2025 23:30
Watch: Trump threatens to disarm Hamas if they don't disarm themselves
Alex Croft14 October 2025 22:58
Rebuilding Gaza could cost $70 billion, says UN agency
Rebuilding the Gaza Strip could cost 70 billion dollars, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has said.
Jaco Cilliers, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Special Representative of the Administrator for the Palestinian people, said the destruction of Gaza is almost beyond comprehension.
Since January 2025, UNDP has safely assessed, removed, and recycled over 81,000 tons of debris, equivalent to 3,100 truckloads, it said in a statement.
Mr Cilliers said Gaza is one of the most destroyed places on earth, but one of the most determined to recover.
The most recent assessment is that $70 billion would be needed to recover and reconstruct Gaza.
Alex Croft14 October 2025 22:29
Palestinian prisoners allege beatings in Israeli prisons
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, where hundreds of prisoners and detainees were released on Monday, several were taken to hospitals.
Murad Barakat, medical director of the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, said the facility received 14 men and discharged all but two.
Their conditions suggested they "were subjected to severe beatings, reflecting the extent of the violence they endured," Imed al-Shami, a resident doctor at the hospital, said.
Kamal Abu Shanab, who was released after more than 18 years, said beatings caused his shoulder to tear. "For eight months, I wasn't given even a pill for the pain," he said.
AP could not independently verify the claims. Israel's Prison Service said it was unaware of such claims.
Nasser Hospital in Gaza said the Red Cross transferred the bodies of 45 Palestinians to its morgue. The bodies were the first of an expected 450 to arrive.
Alex Croft14 October 2025 21:59
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