Trump says Gaza peace deal is holding and insists Hamas leaders are not to blame for ‘rebels’ within the group attacking IDF troops, as Israel launches deadly retaliation strikes
Donald Trump insisted the Gaza peace deal remained intact despite a dramatic increase in violence as Israeli forces launched a series of airstrikes in response to what they said were attacks by ‘rebel’ Hamas fighters.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the president downplayed fears that the fragile ceasefire was collapsing and insisted the Hamas leadership was not behind the flare-up.
‘We want to make sure it’s going to be very peaceful,’ he said, adding that the militants were acting ‘quite loose’ but suggested the attacks were carried out by ‘rebels’ within the group rather than commanders.
Trump refused to say whether Israel’s retaliatory strikes were justified, saying, “This issue will be dealt with harshly but properly.” ‘It is being investigated,’ he said.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance also told reporters he might travel to Israel “in the coming days,” saying the administration wanted to “go and check how things are going” and acknowledging that the ceasefire would certainly have “transformations and beginnings.”
The violence broke out less than two weeks after the US began a ceasefire aimed at ending two years of devastating war in Gaza.
Israeli officials said two soldiers were killed in clashes with Hamas gunmen, sparking a wave of retaliatory attacks that killed at least 36 Palestinians, including children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Israeli ministry said dozens of Hamas targets were hit in the region, while a senior Israeli official confirmed that aid shipments to Gaza were briefly suspended before resuming on Monday.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the president downplayed fears that the fragile ceasefire was collapsing and insisted Hamas leadership was not behind the flare-up
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack targeting a building in the Bureij camp of Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on October 19, 2025
Israeli soldiers Major Yaniv Kula (left) and Staff Sgt. Itay Yavetz was killed in an attack in the south of the Gaza Strip on October 19, 2025.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to take “strong action” against any violations but stopped short of declaring the ceasefire over.
A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire talks confirmed that negotiations were ongoing “around the clock” to calm the situation.
Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire and claimed that communications had been cut off with its fighters in Rafah, who remained in areas determined to be under Israeli control under the terms of the ceasefire.
“We are not responsible for the events taking place in these regions,” the militant group said.
Gaza City residents feared the return of war. “This is going to be a nightmare,” said Mahmoud Hashim, a father of five, pleading with Trump and other negotiators to take action.
Hospitals in Gaza reported many deaths in Israeli airstrikes; one of them destroyed a makeshift coffeehouse in Zawaida, killing six people, and the other hit a tent in Khan Younis, killing four people, including a woman and two children.
Al-Awda hospital said it had received 24 bodies from multiple Israeli attacks on Nuseyrat and Bureij camps in central Gaza.
‘Where is peace?’ asked Khadijeh abu-Nofal, standing amid the chaos as injured children were taken to Nasser Hospital.
Meanwhile, Israel announced that it had identified the remains of two hostages handed over by Hamas: Ronen Engel, a father from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker.
Both were believed to have been pranked during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war.
Israel announced that it stopped sending humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on Sunday and restarted it on Monday.
Hamas returned the remains of 12 hostages last week. Its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it had found the body of another hostage and would return it on Sunday ‘if conditions on the ground permit’.
He warned that any escalation by Israel would disrupt search efforts.
Israel demanded that the group hand over all 28 deceased hostages before reopening the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Israel also returned the bodies of 150 Palestinians to Gaza, 15 of them on Sunday, but many were unidentified and in terrible condition, the Health Ministry said.
The ministry posts photos of bodies on its website to assist families trying to find their loved ones. Some decompose and darken. Some are missing limbs and teeth. The Ministry of Health said only 25 bodies had been identified.
A Hamas delegation led by negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo to discuss the next phase of the ceasefire, which will discuss the disarmament of the group, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and plans for the future administration of Gaza under an internationally backed authority.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem said the group was holding talks to ‘consolidate its positions’ and reiterated that it would not take part in any post-war government.
The war has claimed the lives of more than 68,000 Palestinians, with thousands more still missing, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The conflict began when Hamas-led militants killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251 in an October 7 attack that stunned Israel and the world.
