Trump-Gaza latest: Israel accuses Hamas of violating agreement to return hostages

According to information provided by the Red Cross, two coffins of the dead hostages have been transferred to their custody and are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip.

IDF and ISA forces said: “After this, an additional transfer of two other coffins of deceased hostages will be carried out. Hamas must maintain the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all deceased hostages.”

The Hostage Families Forum is calling for the immediate suspension of all implementation of the agreement “until every dead person is returned.”

He said: “There must be a very serious response from the government and the mediators to Hamas’s violation of the agreement.

“Any agreement must be respected by both sides. If Hamas does not fulfill its part, Israel must not fulfill its part either.”

“We demand the return of all 28 hostages. We will not release anyone until the last hostage is returned.”

Speaking in Egypt, Trump walked back what he had previously said about a possible deal with Iran. He added: “I think Iran will come along, and they’ve been beaten and hurt and, you know, they need some help.

“They’re huge sanctions, as you know, tremendous sanctions. I would love to lift the sanctions when they’re ready to talk, but they can’t really live with those sanctions. Those sanctions are very tough, but at some point they’ll say, we want to lift the sanctions.

“We’re going to end up in peace. I think Iran is going to be OK. I know a lot of Iranian people. They’re great people. They’re smart, great, great people, engineers, lawyers. I mean, they’re academics, but they took a big hit.”

Reporting by Washington DC correspondent Andrew Feinberg.

US President Donald Trump has praised Egypt for playing a “very important role in the peace process”.

He said of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi: “We are going through an amazing time that I think no one has seen before, and we had tremendous things, as you know, in Israel, and now we are in a country where a friend of mine is a very powerful leader, and my friend right here, president, general as well.

“You know, sometimes I call him, usually I call him The General, because he’s both, and he’s good at both, and he’s done a great job, and they have very little offense because they don’t play games.

“That’s why they don’t play games like we do in the United States, with governors who have no idea what they’re doing, but they don’t have crime. I ask about crime, and they almost don’t even know what I’m talking about.

“So this is, this is a great tribute to this man, he has done a tremendous job in bringing this country together and the United States is with him every step of the way.”

Hamas has handed over the remains of two dead Israeli hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, an official involved in the operation told Reuters.

Four of the 28 dead hostages were initially expected to be handed over today, drawing outrage from the hostages’ families and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Katz said on X: “Any delay or deliberate avoidance will be considered a gross breach of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting on Monday with the presidents of France and Turkey and the Emir of Qatar and others to help coordinate efforts to implement the Gaza ceasefire and rebuild the enclave, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of an international summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to finalize an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump has officially reached Egypt where he will participate in the ceasefire summit.

More than two dozen countries are expected to be represented at the summit to address the future of Gaza. Trump is hosting along with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited, but declined, with his office saying it was too close to a Jewish holiday.