Trump threatens Hamas over disarmament as hostage deal hits snag

Magdalena Del Valle, Bloomberg News on Oct 14, 2025

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U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that Hamas return the bodies of deceased hostages and threatened the militant group with retaliation if it does not lay down its arms.

Trump’s comments Tuesday came after Israel prepared to limit the aid it lets into Gaza, developments that threatened the fragile U.S.-led ceasefire that the president celebrated in the region just one day earlier.

“If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I’m not playing games,” Trump told reporters at the White House during a meeting with Argentina’s president.

Asked by a reporter how the United States would take away Hamas’ weapons, Trump replied “I don’t have to explain that to you.” The president said disarmament would have to occur within “a reasonable period of time,” without specifying further.

On Monday, Hamas freed all 20 remaining living Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip and returned the bodies of four deceased hostages.

Later Tuesday, Hamas handed over the remains of four additional hostages, leaving the bodies of roughly 20 deceased Israeli hostages remaining inside Gaza.

Earlier in the day, the United Nations said Israel announced in a letter it would cut by half the amount of aid flowing into Gaza given Hamas has yet to return all the bodies of the deceased hostages — a key part of the deal that took effect last week.

“We certainly very much hope that the bodies of the hostages are handed over and that the ceasefire continues to be implemented,” Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza, told reporters Tuesday.

Border crossings into Gaza were also closed Tuesday, Cherevko said, but U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq was unable to confirm if this was linked to the Israeli announcement.

The Israeli mission to the U.N. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Israeli move is testing the U.S.-brokered peace deal between Israel and Hamas only days after the ceasefire went into effect Friday.

Meanwhile, the U.N. has been ramping up its aid deliveries into Gaza since the ceasefire, securing Israeli approval for 190,000 metric tons of aid, including food, shelter items, medicine and other supplies.

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(With assistance from Catherine Lucey, Gregory White, Derek Wallbank and Michelle Jamrisko.)