Israeli official: US tying IDF’s hands on Hamas violations

The Trump administration’s pressure for restraint has limited Israel’s military response, a senior Israeli source said.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Israeli official said the Hamas terror group is fully aware that the United States is discouraging Jerusalem from forcibly responding to ceasefire violations — and is taking advantage of the Trump administration’s pressure on the IDF — according to a report from Hebrew-language outlet Ynet.

The official told Ynet that Hamas is using the bodies of deceased hostages as bargaining chips, intentionally stalling in order to reestablish its control of the Gaza Strip. The terror group, the source said, has no intention of moving to Phase II of the ceasefire, which would require it to disarm and transfer control of Gaza to another entity.

“We know that Hamas can return a certain number of additional hostages immediately and with minimal effort,” a senior Israeli official told Ynet.

“Its strategy is to buy time, reorganize and strengthen its control on the ground, target the militias that have acted against it, and extract financial gain from [the influx of] humanitarian aid. They are not acting in good faith — this is intentional,” the official told Ynet.

The source added that Israel remains cautious about acting without coordination or approval from Washington but has several tools at its disposal that could be used to pressure Hamas into complying with the terms of the truce.

“The fact that we hold leverage — such as control over the crossings [into the Strip] — puts us in a stronger position when we need to act,” the source said.

“We want to remain coordinated with the Americans. We want international support on the Hamas issue.”

The official also said Israel “knew” Hamas would not respect the terms of the agreement and expressed hope that “at some point, the Americans will wake up and understand who they are dealing with and give us the green light to take action” against the terror group.