The White House worked to hold together the Gaza peace deal on Monday as American officials said they were increasingly concerned that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, could dismantle the U.S.-brokered agreement.
Vice President JD Vance was headed to Israel, where he was to join Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who were instrumental in brokering the deal.
At the same time, President Trump warned that he would allow Israeli forces to “eradicate” Hamas if violence in the enclave continued.
“We made a deal with Hamas that, you know, they’re going to be very good. They’re going to behave. They’re going to be nice,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “And if they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them if we have to. They’ll be eradicated. And they know that.”
Mr. Vance’s expected arrival was meant to add an extra symbolic layer to illustrate the administration’s commitment to keeping the deal intact. The administration brokered a cease-fire this month in a two-year war between Israel and Hamas. But a new round of violence on Sunday has highlighted the fragility of the 10-day-old cease-fire. According to the Israeli military, two Israeli soldiers were killed and another was wounded when Palestinian militants launched an anti-tank missile at an army vehicle.
