'If Hamas Doesn't Behave...' Trump Backs Israel's 'Right To Respond' As Gaza Truce Hangs By Thread

Last Updated:October 29, 2025, 08:36 IST

The US President said Hamas must “behave” and if “they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated”, making it clear that the militant group has lost major outside support

US President Donald Trump. (Image: X/@WhiteHouse)

US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Hamas: honour the fragile Gaza ceasefire or face the consequences. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Israel has the full right to respond to any violations and added that if Hamas does not “behave", it will be “eradicated".

Stressing that Israel was justified in taking military action if Hamas breaks its commitments under the cease-fire deal, Trump clarified that the United States will not be deploying troops to intervene but emphasised that the US backed Israel and allied countries would act swiftly.

The US President said Hamas must “behave" and if “they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated", making it clear that the militant group has lost major outside support.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israel carried out air strikes on Tuesday despite the ongoing ceasefire, after the Israeli military accused Hamas of attacking its troops and violating the US-brokered truce. “They killed an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back. And they should hit back," Trump told reporters.

At least 30 people were killed in strikes targeting several parts of Gaza, said a spokesman for the agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas.

However, US Vice-President JD Vance said the ceasefire was holding despite Tuesday’s “skirmishes".

Hamas had announced it would hand over the body of another hostage on Tuesday as demanded by Israel under the ceasefire deal. During the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war, Hamas militants took 251 people hostage. A row over the last remaining bodies of deceased hostages has threatened to derail the ceasefire.

Israel accuses Hamas of reneging by not returning them, but the Palestinian Islamist group says it will take time to locate the remains amid Gaza’s war-ravaged ruins.

Hamas came under mounting pressure on Monday after it returned the partial remains of a previously recovered captive, which Israel said was a breach of the truce. Hamas had said the remains were the 16th of 28 hostage bodies it had agreed to return under the ceasefire deal, which came into effect on October 10.

But Israeli forensic examination determined Hamas had in fact handed over partial remains of a hostage whose body had already been brought back to Israel around two years ago, according to Netanyahu’s office.

(With AFP inputs)

News world 'If Hamas Doesn't Behave...' Trump Backs Israel's 'Right To Respond' As Gaza Truce Hangs By Thread

Read More