The White House is concerned that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu could dismantle the Israel-Gaza agreement.
Vice President JD Vance was headed to Israel, where he was to join Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who were instrumental in brokering the deal. They are there to show how committed the US is to the deal.
At the same time, President Trump warned that he would allow Israeli forces to “eradicate” Hamas if violence in the enclave continued.
“We made a deal with Hamas that, you know, they’re going to be very good. They’re going to behave. They’re going to be nice,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “And if they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them if we have to. They’ll be eradicated. And they know that.”
The Murders and the IDF Response
On Sunday, two Israeli soldiers were murdered and a third was injured by reportedly rogue Hamas militants. Israel bombed Gaza and then returned to the ceasefire.
Several anonymous Trump officials spoke with the New York Times, saying there is concern within the administration that Mr. Netanyahu may vacate the deal. The strategy now, the officials say, is for Mr. Vance, Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner to try to keep Mr. Netanyahu from resuming an all-out assault against Hamas.
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the truce after repeated flare-ups of violence in recent days. However, both say they are committed to the deal.
Currently, the president believes that Hamas leaders are willing to continue negotiations in good faith and that the attack on Israeli solders was carried out by a fringe element of the group.
Mr. Trump has bucked Israeli declarations that Hamas had violated the agreement. On Monday, he characterized the current fighting in Gaza as a “rebellion” in Hamas that was not representative of the organization’s leadership. He said that some Hamas fighters “got very rambunctious,” but that if the violence continued, the United States would permit Israel to violently eliminate the organization.
The Times reported, “This is the moment that matters,” said Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. “This is what is going to set the tone for if and how this cease-fire holds, or what it even means. That’s all being established now.”
Asked Monday about the situation in Gaza, Mr. Trump argued that it was up to other nations to enforce the agreement. Negotiators of other nations are meeting in Cairo.
Exclusive: Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, and special envoy Steve Witkoff give a behind-the-scenes look at the tense moments leading up to the ceasefire and hostage deal after an Israeli bombing threatened to derail the agreement.
“[Trump] felt like the Israelis… pic.twitter.com/WtZpJcYHTG
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 17, 2025
Does his administration also believe in the Easter bunny?
“Currently, the president believes that Hamas leaders are willing to continue negotiations in good faith and that the attack on Israeli solders was carried out by a fringe element of the group.”
Nothing has happened to warrant an end to the ceasefire. Ceasefires always have complications. This is the key moment. Get the international observers in there, start the investment and recovery, and this crisis will be over.
Know your enemy. Maybe the Trump Administration needs to figure out who they are dealing with before they make such stupid statements about Hamas’ intentions. As they have said time and time again, to Hamas this is just a period of time to regroup and rearm.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21999/fooled-by-hamas