Trump says Israel may have violated Gaza ceasefire, denies strained ties with Netanyahu

Trump denies his administration is frustrated with Israel but confirms the US is examining whether the IDF killing of the Hamas general violated the Gaza ceasefire.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

President Donald Trump on Monday denied reports claiming that tensions are on the rise between his administration and the Netanyahu government, but acknowledged that the US is examining whether Israel’s targeted killing of a senior Hamas commander violated the Gaza ceasefire.

The president spoke with reporters in the White House, responding to questions regarding the Gaza peace deal, Hezbollah, and Trump’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Earlier that day, Axios reported that the White House scolded Netanyahu, accusing Israel of violating the Gaza truce with its targeted killing of Hamas general Ra’ad Sa’ad.

Sa’ad, who was killed in an airstrike on Saturday, was responsible for overseeing Hamas’ efforts to rearm and reconstitute its military forces in Gaza, the IDF said.

But according to the Axios report, senior Trump administration officials, including special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner, vented their frustrations with Netanyahu.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also said to have been angered by Israel’s strike, as well as Jerusalem’s hesitance to move forward with the second phase of the Gaza deal.

Trump denied the claims of a rift with Israel, emphasizing that his relationship with Israel’s premier has been “very good.”

“No, Israel and I have gotten along very well. My relationship with Bibi Netanyahu has been, obviously, a very good one,” Trump said. “We took out Iran. We wiped out…the Iran nuclear threat. And because of that, we are able to make peace in the Middle East.”

“No, we have a very good relationship with Israel. We actually have a very good relationship with just about everybody of the Middle East.”

However, when he was asked whether the killing of Sa’ad violated the ceasefire, Trump said that the issue was being examined.

“We are going to have to see. We are looking into that.”

The president expressed optimism regarding the prospects for the second phase of the Gaza deal, claiming that a number of countries were prepared to send troops into the Gaza Strip to “clean” the coastal enclave “out.”

At the same time, he appeared less certain about the future of the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We have countries that want to go in and clean that out if we want them to do it. But they said that, in the case of Hamas, that they are going to disarm, and we are going to see whether or not that is true.”

“Hezbollah in Lebanon has been a problem. We will see what happens there, but there has been legitimate, large-scale peace in the Middle East.”