As it was announced that Vice President JD Vance would visit Israel, President Donald Trump once again warned Hamas, saying the U.S.-brokered Gaza truce must hold, and issued another blunt warning to the terrorist group.
During a White House meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday, Trump warned, "We're going to eradicate them. If we have to, they'll be eradicated. And they know that," he told reporters, and stressed the deal's broad backing - "59 countries that agreed to the deal" - while insisting the ceasefire remains in place and warning that any further violence would be met with decisive action.
While details of Vance's trip to Israel have yet to be announced, Washington's diplomacy is extending beyond Jerusalem, as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were expected to travel to Egypt from Israel for talks with Hamas representatives, underscoring a push to move from preserving the ceasefire toward negotiating the more fraught next phase.
ISRAEL SAYS HAMAS VIOLATED CEASEFIRE WITH 'MULTIPLE ATTACKS' LEADING TO IDF RESPONSE
At Monday's meeting with the Australian pm, Trump was asked by a reporter whether the U.S. would put boots on the ground, Trump said his administration does not plan to deploy troops and that other countries - and Israel itself - could act if needed.
"We don't need to, because we have many countries, as you know, signed on to this deal," he said. "We've had countries calling me when they saw some of the killing with Hamas, saying we'd love to go in and take care of the situation ourselves. In addition, you have Israel - they would go in, in two minutes. If I asked him to go in, I could tell him, go in and take care of it. 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."
He added a blunt warning about Hamas' capacity and support. "But right now, you know, they're violent people. Hamas has been very violent, but they don't have the backing of Iran anymore… They have to be good, and if they're not good, they'll be eradicated - because absolutely we can, and we have the capacity to do so."
The comments came as senior U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Israeli leaders to shore up the fragile, Trump-brokered, 20-step ceasefire plan after a weekend flare-up. Hamas terrorists killed two Israeli soldiers, prompting Israeli strikes against the terror group. Despite the violence, both Israel and Hamas publicly recommitted to the truce.
HAMAS ACCEPTS TRUMP PEACE PLAN ENDING 2 YEARS OF WAR IN GAZA, RETURNING HOSTAGES
On the ground, the IDF took custody of the coffin of another deceased hostage. A joint IDF-ISA statement asked the public to "act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families," while adding that, "Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages." Israeli officials say Hamas could hand over six more bodies immediately out of the 15 still believed in Gaza, though some remains may be impossible to recover amid widespread destruction.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in the Knesset, struck a hard line while stressing close U.S.-Israel coordination. He warned the fighting was far from over and said violations would carry a "very heavy price," while praising the "unprecedented closeness" with Washington.
Separately, the IDF said Southern Command troops have begun marking a so-called yellow line inside Gaza - 3.5-meter concrete barriers topped by yellow poles placed roughly every 200 meters - to establish "tactical clarity on the ground" as part of the ceasefire arrangement. The military said the marking will continue "in the coming period" as forces work to remove threats and defend Israeli civilians.
