Donald Trump has insisted that his Gaza peace deal remains intact despite a dramatic escalation in violence, as Israeli forces launched a series of airstrikes in response to what they say were attacks by ‘rebel’ Hamas fighters.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the president downplayed fears that the fragile ceasefire was collapsing, insisting that Hamas’s 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 had been ‘quite rambunctious’ but suggesting the attacks were carried out by ‘rebels’ within the group rather than its commanders.
‘It’s going to be handled toughly but properly,’ Trump said, refusing to say whether Israel’s retaliatory strikes were justified. ‘It’s under review,’ he said.
US Vice President JD Vance also revealed he may travel to Israel ‘in the coming days,’ telling reporters the administration wanted to ‘go and check on how things are going,’ acknowledging the ceasefire was bound to have ‘fits and starts’.
The violence erupted less than two weeks after the start of the US-proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of devastating war in Gaza.
Israeli officials said two soldiers were killed in clashes with Hamas gunmen, prompting a wave of retaliatory strikes that killed at least 36 Palestinians, including children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli ministry said dozens of Hamas targets were hit across the territory, while a senior Israeli official confirmed that aid deliveries into Gaza were briefly suspended before being restored Monday.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the president downplayed fears that the fragile ceasefire was collapsing, insisting that Hamas’ s leadership was not behind the flare-up
Smoke billows following an Israeli strike that targeted a building in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on October 19, 2025
Israeli soldiers Maj. Yaniv Kula (left) and Staff Sgt. Itay Yavetz were killed in an attack in the southern 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 truce over.
A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire talks confirmed ’round-the-clock’ negotiations were underway to calm the situation.
Hamas accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire and claimed communication had been lost with its remaining fighters in Rafah, in areas designated as Israeli-controlled under the ceasefire terms.
‘We are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas,’ the militant group said.
In Gaza City, residents feared the return of war. ‘It will be a nightmare,’ said Mahmoud Hashim, a father-of-five, pleading with Trump and other mediators to act.
Hospitals across Gaza reported scores of casualties from Israeli airstrikes – including one that destroyed a makeshift coffeehouse in Zawaida, killing six people, and another that hit a tent in Khan Younis, killing four, among them a woman and two children.
Al-Awda hospital said it received 24 bodies from several Israeli strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza.
‘Where is the peace?’ asked Khadijeh abu-Nofal, standing amid the chaos as wounded children were rushed into Nasser Hospital.
Meanwhile, Israel said 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 kidded during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault that triggered the war.
Israel says it halted the supply of humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip on Sunday before restoring it Monday
Hamas has returned the remains of 12 hostages over the past week. Its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it found the body of another hostage and would return it Sunday ‘if circumstances in the field’ allowed.
It warned that any escalation by Israel would hamper search efforts.
Israel has demanded the group hand over all 28 deceased hostages before reopening the key Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Israel has also returned 150 Palestinian bodies to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, the Health Ministry said, though many remain unidentified and in horrific condition.
The ministry posts photos of bodies on its website to help families attempting to locate loved ones. Some are decomposed and blackened. Some are missing limbs and teeth. Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.
A Hamas delegation led by negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo for talks on the next phase of the ceasefire, which will focus on disarming the group, Israeli troop withdrawals, and plans for Gaza’s future governance under an internationally backed authority.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem said the group is in talks to ‘solidify its positions’ and reiterated that it would not take part in any postwar government.
The war has claimed more than 68,000 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, with thousands still missing.
The conflict began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducted 251 others in the October 7 attack that stunned Israel and the world.
