US President Donald Trump said on Monday (October 20th) he would give Hamas a chance to abide by a Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel, but issued a stark warning that the group would be “eradicated” if it did not.
Trump told reporters while hosting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House: “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. And if they’re not, we’re going to go and wipe them out if we have to. They’re going to be wiped out and they know it.”
US forces are not involved
Trump emphasized that US forces will not participate directly against Hamas. He said the dozens of other countries that have agreed to join the international stabilization force for Gaza would “like to come in”.
“On top of that, you’ve got Israel who would walk in in two minutes if I asked them to walk in. But right now we haven’t said that. We’re going to give it a little chance and hopefully there will be a little less violence. But right now, you know, they’re bullies,” Trump said.
US mediation efforts
Trump’s remarks came as two of his top emissaries, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after recent weekend violence threatened to derail a fragile truce the US president helped broker nearly two weeks ago. And on Tuesday, US Vice President JD Vance is coming.
Israel resumed truce enforcement after the violence
Israel announced on Sunday that it had “started to restore a ceasefire” with Hamas in Gaza after heavy fighting over the weekend and warned that it would “react firmly to any violation”. The renewed violence followed an ambush in southern Gaza that killed two Israeli soldiers.
Israeli strikes targeted Hamas weapons depots and destroyed several kilometers of underground tunnels. Some humanitarian aid has resumed, although the critical Rafah border crossing remains closed.
Next steps in the US-brokered plan
Under Trump’s internationally backed plan, Hamas is expected to disarm and transfer the remaining government to a foreign-supervised Palestinian Authority. While the first phase included the release of the hostages and the start of the IDF withdrawal, Hamas returned only the remains of 12 deceased captives, with Israel accusing the group of delays.
Humanitarian and military situation
Israeli troops moved along the “Yellow Line”, leaving more than half of Gaza under Israeli control, allowing some Palestinian civilians to return to safer areas such as Gaza City and Khan Younis.
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that 44 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. Palestinians launched anti-tank attacks on Israeli soldiers in Rafah, injuring two soldiers in addition to the two killed.
