US President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that “nothing is going to jeopardize” the ceasefire in Gaza, but added that Israel “should hit back” if its soldiers were killed. His remarks came a day after an Israeli soldier was killed in Rafah, and as Jerusalem and the terror group accused each other of violating the ceasefire deal.

“They killed an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back. And they should hit back,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

“Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to behave. They said they would be good, and if they’re good, they’re going to be happy, and if they’re not good, they’re going to be terminated,” he continued, referring to the apparent understanding that was reached when his top aides met with Hamas’s lead negotiators in Egypt in the final hours before a ceasefire agreement was reached.

A senior Trump aide told reporters earlier this month that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and fellow Trump adviser Jared Kushner provided a verbal assurance to Hamas that Washington would hold Israel to the terms of the deal and not allow it to resume the war so long as Hamas kept its end of the agreement.

“We actually met with people [who] were leading [Hamas], and… I think they’re unhappy when they see some people being killed,” the US president said.

Trump has claimed that Hamas officials told his aides Witkoff and Kushner that they would disarm, but the terror organization has repeatedly said otherwise.

Trump’s full 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, which he unveiled last month, calls for “a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors.” However, this was included in the second phase of the plan and was not part of the Israel-Hamas agreement that was signed on October 9. That latter text only focused on the initial ceasefire, hostage-prisoner swap, IDF pullback and humanitarian aid provisions, while thornier issues pertaining to the post-war management of Gaza and Hamas’s disarmament were kicked down the road.

Trump again claimed that many countries have reached out to him to the US expressing interest in helping “terminate” Hamas if necessary, adding that Japan offered during his visit there on Tuesday to send “experts” to the region.

Arab and European diplomats have repeatedly denied that this is the case in conversations to The Times of Israel, explaining that countries may be willing to contribute troops to help stabilize postwar Gaza by securing the borders, assisting with humanitarian aid and training Palestinian police, but are not prepared to risk their own soldiers by entering combat against Hamas operatives to try to disarm them.

Speaking hours before Trump, US Vice President JD Vance similarly predicted the truce will hold despite Tuesday’s flare-up in........

© The Times of Israel