President Donald Trump said Sunday evening that the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza was still intact after the two sides exchanged fire over the weekend.
Trump seemed to blame civilians in Gaza for opening fire on Israeli soldiers, killing two of them. Israel then launched a series of air strikes on Gaza.
Hamas is being “quite rambunctious,” Trump said from Air Force One, but added he believes its leadership “isn’t involved in that.”
The ceasefire is "still in place," even though both sides accuse the other of violating it, he said.
It's about par for the course in the Middle East, where peace in Israel has never lasted long.
So far, Israel has withdrawn most of its soldiers from Gaza and has allowed food and medical aid to flow in.
Hamas returned all the living hostages it held back to Israel along with remains of 12 of the 28 dead ones. It said before the ceasefire that it would take some time to locate the remains of all the dead hostages.
Israel countered by saying the Rafah border crossing that connects Gaza with Egypt would stay closed until all the remains were returned.
Clearly, there are still tensions between the two sides, and Hamas has not yet disarmed.
Trump threatened last week that if Hamas didn't disarm voluntarily, they would be disarmed by force, though not by American forces.
Part of the peace plan that hasn't yet been implemented calls for Hamas's disarmament, but they haven't agreed to that part yet.
On Saturday, the State Department said it had intel that Hamas is planning an attack on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which would definitely violate the ceasefire terms.
In that case, the U.S. said it would take action to “protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire.”
“The United States and the other guarantors remain resolute in our commitment to ensuring the safety of civilians, maintaining calm on the ground, and advancing peace and prosperity for the people of Gaza and the region as a whole,” the statement further read.
