Trump tells CNN Israeli forces could resume fighting in Gaza ‘as soon as I say the word’ if Hamas

Trump tells CNN Israeli forces could resume fighting in Gaza ‘as soon as I say the word’ if Hamas won’t uphold ceasefire deal President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would consider allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume military action in Gaza if Hamas refuses to uphold its end of the ceasefire deal, telling CNN that Israeli forces could return to the streets “as soon as I say the word.” “What’s going on with Hamas – that’ll be straightened out quickly,” the president said in a brief telephone call. Trump’s comments come as Israel is accusing Hamas, a group labeled a terrorist organization by the US government, of not abiding by the agreement that it hand over hostages, living and dead, as part of a deal to end the fighting in Gaza. That has caused rising anger in Israel, where authorities have told the UN that humanitarian aid shipments expected to be allowed into Gaza will be reduced or delayed because of the small number of deceased hostages turned over. But so far, the tenuous ceasefire has held. Point 4 of Trump’s 20-point peace plan stated, “Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.” As of Wednesday morning, all 20 of the living Israeli hostages had been returned to Israel. But Hamas had handed over the bodies of eight people, including four last night, and the Israeli military has said that one of them does not belong to an Israeli hostage. Four to five more bodies are expected to be returned this evening, a source familiar with the matter told CNN on Wednesday. Trump noted the rescue of the living hostages was important in its own right. “Getting those 20 hostages out was paramount,” the US president said. And after Trump’s conversation with CNN Tuesday, two senior US advisers said that the US does not believe Hamas is violating its commitments to the ceasefire agreement by failing to produce the remains of former hostages. They said the US had received assurances from the group — through third-party mediators — that they would do everything possible to locate and return the remaining bodies, and the US was actively working through the mediators to provide intelligence and logistical support to locate the remaining bodies, which in many cases could be buried under rubble and debris left behind after two years of war. In the days following the hostage release, violent clashes have erupted between Hamas and rival groups, including an incident that culminated in an apparent public execution. Trump has warned previously that Hamas must also disarm or “we will disarm them.” His 20-point plan contemplates a future in which Hamas agrees not to have any role in the governance of Gaza, which will be demilitarized and under independent monitoring. But the administration has acknowledged that it still has to do more work to resolve the future of Gaza, and that the agreement that prompted the hostage release is only Phase 1. Trump told CNN that right now, Hamas is “going in and clearing out the gangs, violent gangs.” “I’m doing research on it,” he said when asked if it was possible that Hamas was executing innocent Palestinians. “We’ll find out about it. It could be gangs plus,” he said.