The Trump administration fears that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could derail the US leader's proposed Gaza peace plan, The New York Times reports.
Several officials told the publication that there are concerns in the US administration that Netanyahu could cancel the deal. Washington's current strategy is to use the mediation of Trump's special envoy Stephen Witkoff, US Vice President J.D. Vance and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner to deter the Israeli prime minister from continuing a full-scale attack on the radical Palestinian movement Hamas.
The publication notes that negotiators from several Arab countries that helped broker the deal have gathered in Cairo to discuss compliance with the ceasefire. In addition, US authorities are working with Turkey to form a team to search for the bodies of hostages killed in the enclave.
On October 9, Trump announced that representatives of Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on the first phase of the plan, which provides for the release of all hostages held in the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the agreed positions. On the night of October 10, Netanyahu's office announced that the government had approved the agreement to release all hostages. The ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip came into effect on October 10.
On Sunday, the Israeli army announced that Palestinian radicals had violated the ceasefire, reporting an incident near the city of Rafah, where Israeli soldiers were fired upon. Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the ceasefire violation and ordered the armed forces to "take action" against the radicals.
The army then launched a series of strikes throughout the enclave, attacking dozens of targets. The Israeli side later specified that two soldiers were killed and another was seriously injured as a result of the morning incident in Rafah.
Hamas representatives deny any connection between the movement and the incident in Rafah.