U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the situation in Gaza, and acknowledged that it is in violation of the ceasefire agreement, on Monday during a formal dinner with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. His comments came as the Red Cross set out to pick up a hostage body from Hamas on Monday evening. By 9 p.m. the coffin was in the hands of the IDF and on its way to Israel.
Once in Israel, it was received in a military ceremony in the presence of an IDF rabbi, according to the Prime Minister's Office. It was then transferred to the Health Ministry National Center of Forensic Medicine. Upon completion of the identification process, formal notification will be delivered to the family.
Trump says Hamas is violating ceasefire
(Video: The White House)
“We made a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very good, they’re going to behave, they’re going to be nice, and if not, we’re going to eradicate them if we have to,” Trump told reporters at the White House. "They'll be eradicated — and they know that."
“We’ll deal with the Hamas situation swiftly. We’re taking many steps to preserve the cease-fire. Israel would go in in two minutes if I asked them to go in. I could tell them, ‘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, but you know, they are violent people.”
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Red Cross is picking up the body of a dead hostage in Gaza
(Photo: Yousef Al Zanoun/AP)
Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law—both key architects of the ceasefire agreement. Following the meeting, and amid continued violations by Hamas, no decision was made to reopen the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza. It will remain closed until the issue of returning the remains of Israeli hostages is resolved. Consequently, there are no preparations to reopen the crossing Tuesday.
Witkoff and Kushner made clear to Netanyahu that they expect Israel to uphold the ceasefire, except for acts of self-defense by IDF forces stationed in the Strip. For now, the U.S. is backing Israel’s position that Hamas is violating the agreement regarding the return of hostage remains, and they accept Israel’s claim that Hamas is engaging in stalling tactics.
First published: 20:22, 10.20.25