Washington / Tel Aviv, October 21, 2025: U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that Hamas would be “wiped out” if it violates the Gaza ceasefire, as Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel to reinforce the fragile truce.
Vance was expected to meet Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who were already in Tel Aviv to meet Israeli hostages recently freed after two years in Hamas captivity. Israeli media reported that the vice president will hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
The visit comes amid renewed tensions following Israel’s claim that Hamas fighters killed two soldiers in Rafah on Saturday and delayed the handover of hostages’ bodies. In response, Washington has intensified efforts to preserve the ceasefire Trump helped broker earlier this month.
“We believe the deal is still holding,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “If Hamas breaches it, they’ll be eradicated—and they know that.”
Meanwhile, Qatar—another key mediator—accused Israel of “continued violations” of the 11-day-old truce. “We condemn all Israeli practices in Palestine, particularly the transformation of Gaza into an area unfit for human life,” Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told the Qatari Shura Council.
Hamas denied involvement in the weekend clash in southern Gaza, while the territory’s health ministry said Israel’s retaliatory strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians.
Hamas political leader Khalil al-Hayya, currently in Cairo for talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, voiced cautious optimism that the ceasefire would hold. “What we heard from the mediators and from the U.S. President reassures us that the war on Gaza has ended,” he said.
Hayya added that Hamas remains committed to retrieving the bodies of the remaining 15 hostages believed to be in Gaza, but said the effort was hampered by extensive destruction from two years of Israeli bombardment. “We need advanced heavy equipment for search and recovery operations,” he said.
Despite the recent violence, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the U.S.-backed truce. Israel confirmed on Monday that Hamas had returned the body of another deceased hostage, bringing the total to 13 of the 28 promised under the agreement.
“We will not compromise on this and will spare no effort until we return all of the deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, outlines a framework for hostage and prisoner exchanges and proposes a roadmap for Gaza’s future governance. Under Trump’s 20-point plan, Israeli forces have withdrawn beyond the so-called “Yellow Line,” leaving them in control of roughly half of Gaza, including its borders but not its main cities.
The conflict, which began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, has killed at least 68,216 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN considers these figures credible and notes that more than half of the victims are women and children. Hamas’s initial assault left 1,221 people dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli data.
