The Trump administration steps up efforts to preserve the peace deal between Israel and Hamas amid fears it could collapse
Trump’s current strategy is to have Kushner, Vance, and Witkoff meet in Israel and do everything they can to stop the Israeli president from launching a full-scale assault on the jihadist group in Gaza.
President Donald Trump in a file image.
The The New York Times reported Monday that President Donald Trump's administration has been scrambling in recent hours to maintain the peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Several officials told the outlet they've been unable to reach an agreement understanding with either side and are increasingly worried that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could abandon the deal at any moment.
Several Republican administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the outlet that Trump’s current strategy is to have his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Vice President JD Vance and Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff meet in Israel and do everything possible to prevent the Israeli leader from launching another full-scale assault on the jihadist organization in Gaza.
Pessimism between Witkoff and Kushner
According to the newspaper, a White House official said that Trump believes Hamas leaders are still willing to continue negotiations in good faith, and that the recent attack on several Israeli soldiers was carried out by a rogue faction within the terrorist organization. While Trump shared this view during a press conference on Monday, he also noted that his administration would permit the Israeli government to strike Hamas if the violence persists.
According to the Times, a senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that both Kushner and Witkoff believe the situation is extremely fragile and that the peace deal they helped broker could collapse at any moment. The newspaper also reported that the two are working on several complex issues left unresolved in the agreement, including the establishment of a stabilization force led by Egypt and the initial steps toward Hamas’s demilitarization.
Vance believes that part of Hamas will not respect the ceasefire
Vance added that while many of these cells may respect the cease-fire, others inevitably will not. “Some of those cells will probably honor the ceasefire,” he said. “But many of them, as we saw some evidence of today, will not. Before we can ensure that Hamas is fully disarmed, it’s going to require— as we know— some of the Gulf Arab states to deploy forces to help establish law, order, and security on the ground,” the vice president explained.
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