Trump insists ceasefire still in place after deadly wave of Israeli strikes

The Israel Defense Forces announced a fresh wake of attacks against Hamas "terror targets", after its militants "fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire toward IDF troops" near Rafah.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded in the alleged clashes, the IDF said. However, Hamas claimed it is not in contact with any fighters remaining in that area.

Read more: US says Hamas is planning 'imminent' attack on Gaza civilians as latest returned October 7 hostage identified

But speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, Mr Trump claimed the peace deal was still holding up.

He said Hamas leaders are not to blame for the "rebels" within the group responsible for attacking IDF troops.

When asked if the ceasefire was still holding, the President said: "Yeah it is.

"We want to make sure it's going to be very peaceful."

Referring to the strikes, he added: "It's going to be handled toughly, but properly."

He also suggested Hamas leadership was not involved in any alleged breaches, instead blaming "some rebels within."

Before the latest Israeli strikes, Palestinian officials accused Israel of committing 47 violations of the ceasefire agreement since it came into force in early October, killing 38 people and wounding 143.

At least 44 Palestinians were killed in the air strikes across central Gaza on Sunday, according to medical and local sources.

A senior Israeli official also claimed that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had decided to halt the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza in response to the alleged Hamas violation.

"In accordance with the directive of the political echelon, the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip has been halted until further notice, following Hamas’s blatant violation of the agreement," the official said.

However, after pressure from the Trump administration, Israel was forced to row back on the decision and announce that aid delivery would resume on Monday morning local time.

Since the US-brokered ceasefire deal came into effect on October 10, hundreds of aid lorries have been allowed to enter Gaza each day.

A previous blockade on aid deliveries led UN-backed experts to confirm a famine in Gaza back in August.

Following the Israeli military's latest announcement, thick plumes of smoke could be seen over the city of Khan Younis, and air raid sirens were heard in Rafah during an "exchange of fire" between Hamas and Israeli troops.

These alleged violations come less than a week after both sides signed a Donald Trump-brokered ceasefire deal, which he hailed as a "new era of peace" for the Middle East.

With this agreement now at serious risk of falling apart, Hamas says its delegation has arrived in Egypt's capital Cairo for ceasefire talks.

Chief Hamas negotiator Dr Khalil al-Hayya will lead a delegation of mediators and Palestinian groups to discuss the implementation of Trump's 20-point peace plan.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, the US claimed Hamas was planning to violate its ceasefire agreement with an attack on Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Taking to X, the State Department said any attack "would constitute a direct and grave violation" of the agreement forged by Donald Trump to end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas.

The post did not include any details about the attack.

"Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire," the State Department said.

The president previously warned on social media that "if Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them".

He later clarified he will not send US troops into Gaza after the threat against Hamas.

"It's not going to be us," he told reporters.

"We won't have to. There are people very close, very nearby, that will go in and they'll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices."