When it was announced that Vice President JD Vance would visit Israel, President Donald Trump again warned Hamas, saying the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza 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 are going to wipe them out. If necessary, they will be exterminated. And they know that,” he told reporters, highlighting the deal’s broad support – “59 countries that agreed to the deal” – as he insisted the ceasefire remains in place and warned 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 extends beyond Jerusalem as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were expected to travel from Israel to Egypt for talks with Hamas representativesThis underlines the push to move from maintaining the ceasefire to negotiating the more fraught next phase.
ISRAEL SAYS HAMAS VIOLATED STRIKE TEST WITH ‘MULTIPLE ATTACKS’, LEADING TO IDF RESPONSE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
During Monday’s meeting with the Australian prime minister, Trump was asked by a reporter whether the US would put boots on the ground. Trump said his administration has no plans to deploy troops and that other countries – and Israel itself – could act if necessary.
“That is not necessary because, as you know, many countries have signed this agreement,” he said. “There have been countries that called me when they saw some of the murders in Hamas and said we would like to go in and take care of the situation ourselves. Plus 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 at this point we haven’t said that yet. We’re going to give it a little chance, and hopefully there will be a little less violence.”
He added a blunt warning capacity of Hamas and support. “But right now they are violent people. Hamas has been very violent, but they no longer have the support of Iran… They have to be good, and if they are not good, they will be exterminated – because we absolutely can, and we have the capacity to do that.”
The comments came as senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Israeli leaders to strengthen the fragile Trump-brokered 20-step ceasefire plan after a flare-up over the weekend. Hamas terrorists killed two Israeli soldiers, prompting Israeli attacks on the terror group. Despite the violence, both Israel and Hamas publicly re-signed their ceasefire.
President Donald Trump, left, and Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, shake hands outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, October 20, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
HAMAS ACCEPTS TRUMP PEACE PLAN THAT ENDS TWO YEARS OF WAR IN GAZA, RETURN HOSTAGES
At the scene, the IDF seized the coffin of another deceased hostage. A joint statement from the IDF and ISA asked the public to “act with sensitivity and await official identification, which will be provided to the families first,” while adding that “Hamas is obliged to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all deceased hostages.” Israeli officials say Hamas could immediately hand over six more bodies of the 15 believed still in Gaza, although some remains may be impossible to recover amid the widespread destruction.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a hard line in his speech in the Knesset, emphasizing close coordination between the US and Israel. He warned that the fighting is far from over and said violations would come at a “very high price,” while praising the “unprecedentedly close relationship” with Washington.
On October 13, 2025, a group of Hamas terrorists were captured in Deir-el Balah in central Gaza, while twenty living Israeli hostages were released. (TPS-IL)
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In addition, the IDF said Southern Command troops have begun marking a so-called yellow line inside Gaza — 3.5-meter-high concrete barriers with yellow posts placed approximately every 200 meters — to create “tactical clarity on the ground” as part of the ceasefire. The military said the marking will continue “in the period ahead” as troops work to eliminate threats and defend Israeli civilians.
