 "US President Donald Trump. Reuters")
US President Donald Trump confirmed that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is still in effect after the IDF conducted airstrikes across Gaza. The violence in the coastal enclave reignited after two soldiers from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) were killed in an attack in Rafah .
The Hamas-run civil defence noted that 45 people were killed in the Sunday strikes. However, it is still unclear how many civilians and Hamas operatives were killed in the attack. When asked by a reporter about the latest spate of violence, Trump made it clear that the ceasefire is still in place.
“We want to make sure that it’s going to be very peaceful with Hamas,” Trump said. “And as you know, they’ve been quite rambunctious… but either way … it’s going to be handled toughly, but properly," the American leader averred while on board Air Force One.
Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance said that “security infrastructure” is needed in Gaza before Hamas would disarm. The American vice president suggested that international peacekeepers need to deploy to Gaza to maintain security in the territory before Hamas disarms.
“Before we actually can ensure that Hamas is properly disarmed, that’s going to require… some of these Gulf Arab states to get forces in there to actually apply some law and order and some security-keeping on the ground,” Vance told reporters. “We don’t even have the security infrastructure in place, meaning the Gulf Arab states, our allies, don’t have the security infrastructure in place yet to confirm that Hamas is disarmed,” he added.
Israel resumes enforcing the ceasefire
According to multiple reports, Vance is set to visit Israel in the coming days. On Sunday night, the Israeli military said that it was going back to enforcing the ceasefire agreement after a directive from the country’s political echelon.
The military also maintained that it would be responding firmly to any violations of the ceasefire that they felt were taking place now. It is pertient to note that Hamas has denied responsibility for killing and injuring Israeli soldiers.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMeanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security consultation on Sunday about how Israel is going to respond and what they are going to do moving forward.
There are still 16 bodies of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, and Netanyahu says that he’s going to continue cutting humanitarian aid in half and is not going to be willing to discuss the second part of Trump’s plan until those captives are released.