Trump Exonerates Hamas Leaders: Shifts Blame for IDF Attacks to ‘Rebels

Donald Trump has reiterated that his peace agreement for Gaza remains in effect, even as violence has intensified with Israeli airstrikes responding to alleged attacks by Hamas fighters.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump minimized concerns that the delicate ceasefire was breaking down. He claimed the recent surge in violence was not orchestrated by Hamas’s top leadership.

“We want to ensure that it remains very peaceful,” Trump stated, describing the militants as “quite rambunctious” but suggesting that the recent attacks were the actions of “rebels” within the group rather than its leaders.

Trump added, “It will be dealt with firmly but appropriately,” while declining to comment on whether Israel’s counterattacks were warranted, saying only that “it’s under review.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance indicated the possibility of visiting Israel “in the coming days.” He told reporters that the administration aims to “go and check on how things are progressing,” acknowledging that the ceasefire might experience “fits and starts.”

This surge in violence comes less than two weeks after the United States brokered a ceasefire to halt two years of destructive conflict 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.