US President Donald Trump threatened to “eradicate” Hamas if it breached its ceasefire deal with Israel, as Vice President JD Vance travelled to the region Tuesday to bolster the fragile Gaza truce.
The Trump administration has redoubled its efforts to cement the fragile Gaza peace agreement it helped to broker, after Israel accused Hamas of stalling the hand-over of hostages’ bodies and deadly violence flared up in the territory over the weekend.
“We made a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very good, they’re going to behave, they’re going to be nice,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
“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.”
Both sides have said they are committed to the US-backed truce despite the weekend’s violence, and Israel confirmed that Hamas handed over the body of a hostage on Monday, taking the total to 13 of the 28 it had pledged to return.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Hamas had to make good on its commitment to return the remains of all the hostages in order to implement the ceasefire agreement.
“We will not compromise on this and will spare no effort until we return all of the deceased hostages, every last one of them,” the statement said.
Hamas has said it needs more time and technical assistance to complete the recovery of the bodies.
Vance was set to arrive in Israel on Tuesday, where Netanyahu said he would hold discussions on “two things… the security challenges we face and the diplomatic opportunities before us”.
– Rocky deal implementation –
The ceasefire, which went into effect on October 10, established an outline for hostage and prisoner exchanges, and proposed an ambitious roadmap for Gaza’s future. But its implementation has quickly faced challenges.
Israel carried out dozens of strikes in Gaza on Sunday using 153 tons (337,307 pounds) of explosives, according to Netanyahu, targeting Hamas after two Israeli soldiers were killed in the territory’s south. Gaza’s civil defence agency said the strikes killed at least 45 people across the territory.
The Israeli prime minister accused the militant group of “a blatant violation” of the ceasefire, an accusation it denied.
Trump said American forces would not be involved against Hamas, but added that “Israel would go in in two minutes, if I asked them to go in.
“But right now, we haven’t said that. We’re going to give it a little chance,” he added.
The Gazan civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said four people were also killed by Israeli gunfire on Monday in Gaza City. Israel’s military said it had fired at militants who crossed a ceasefire line.
Under Trump’s 20-point plan, Israeli forces have withdrawn beyond the so-called “Yellow Line” — which leaves them in control of around half of Gaza, including the territory’s borders, but not its main cities.
Israeli troops have fired on Gazans they say were approaching their new positions several times since the ceasefire was declared.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.
– ‘Renewed enforcement’ –
The military said that after carrying out Sunday’s strikes in response to the attack on its soldiers, it had “renewed enforcement of the ceasefire” but would “respond firmly to any violation”.
Hamas denied knowledge of any attack, with one official accusing Israel of fabricating “pretexts” to resume the war.
The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, has killed at least 68,216 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.
Hamas’s 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
