Tuesday 21 / October / 2025
US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire was still in effect after Israel launched deadly airstrikes and halted all aid to Gaza on Sunday, claiming its troops came under fire from Hamas.
"Yeah, it is," Trump told reporters when asked if the truce was holding.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and dozens of Palestinians died as both sides blamed the other for violating the ceasefire.
Trump said Hamas leadership may not be involved in the violations.
"We think maybe the leadership isn't involved in that," he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
"Either way ... it's going to be handled toughly but properly."
Trump was unsure if the Israeli strikes were justified. He said, "I'd have to get back to you on that."
Vice President JD Vance said Sunday he may visit Israel soon, adding the administration wants to "check on how things are going." On the ceasefire, he noted there will be "fits and starts."
Humanitarian aid to Gaza was set to resume , Israeli security sources told news outlets, without providing further details. Lack of access to proper nutrition and medicine has exacerbated the death toll in Gaza, which according to the Gaza Health Ministry is at least 70,000, most of them civilians.
Israel halted aid to the Palestinian territory on Sunday after accusing Hamas of violating the truce by firing on its soldiers.
It was unclear whether the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would reopen.
Israel said last week that the crossing's reopening would depend on Hamas fulfilling its obligations under the ceasefire.
Israel says Hamas is delaying the return of hostage bodies. Hamas has released all 20 living captives and 12 of the 28 deceased. US President Trump has said that he believes Hamas is acting in good faith to try and locate the bodies of the deceased hostages.
The militant group said it needs time and technical assistance to recover the remaining bodies from beneath Gaza’s rubble.
Netanyahu meets Kushner and Witkoff amid Gaza ceasefire tensions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met with top US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after weekend violence threatened to derail a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu met earlier today with special envoy Steve Witkoff and [US] President [Donald] Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on the developments and updates in the region," Netanyahu's spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told journalists.
She added that US Vice President JD Vance and his wife were expected to visit Israel "for a few days and will be meeting with the prime minister."
