“They killed an Israeli soldier, so the Israelis hit back, and they should hit back. When that happens they should hit back,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route from Japan to South Korea. “They have a right” to retaliate, the president later added.
The IDF on Tuesday night announced the death of Maj. (res.) Yonah Efraim (Efi) Feldbaum, a 37-year-old father of five from Zayit Ra’anan–Neria.
Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Hamas terror targets in Gaza on Tuesday evening in response to the attack in Rafah. The strikes continued on Wednesday morning with attacks on ground infrastructure, according to Hebrew media reports.
The president emphasized on Wednesday that the incident did not jeopardize the U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement that went into effect on Oct. 10.
“Nothing’s going to jeopardize [it]. You have to understand, Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East and they have to behave. They’re on the rough side, but they said they would be good, and if they’re good they’re going to be happy, and if not good they’re going to be terminated. Their lives will be terminated, and they understand that,” said Trump.
The president emphasized that “many countries” are involved in the Gaza peace plan effort. “Hamas is a small thing, but they kill people. They grew up killing people, and I guess they don’t stop,” he said.
Stressing again that Hamas “is a very small part of the overall Middle East peace,” Trump said that “if we have to, we’ll take out Hamas easily and that’ll be the end of Hamas. We’d rather not. We made a deal with them where they were going to behave, and they have to behave. If they don’t behave, they will be taken out, and it could be from numerous countries. It could be from Israel, but it could also be from other countries.”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance also said that the truce would not break despite Tuesday’s flareup, telling reporters during a visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, hours before Trump spoke on the matter, that “the ceasefire is holding. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be little skirmishes here and there.” He continued: “We know that Hamas or somebody else within Gaza attacked an IDF soldier. We expect the Israelis are going to respond, but I think the president’s peace is going to hold despite it.”
Senior Republican senator Lindsey Graham also offered strong support for Israeli military action against Hamas, writing on X Tuesday that if Jerusalem “believes it is necessary to reengage Hamas militarily, so be it. They have my complete backing.”
The South Carolina lawmaker expressed deep skepticism that Hamas would lay down its weapons as the second stage of the agreement demands, calling it a “fantasy” that the terror group sworn to Israel’s destruction would voluntarily disarm, and adding that “an international force will be deployed to Gaza with a mandate of forcibly disarming Hamas is very problematic.” He added: “Without Hamas being disarmed and removed from power permanently, there will be no pathway to stability and peace in the Middle East. Hamas is killing their opposition and consolidating their power.”
I totally support the recent military action by Israel against Hamas. The idea that Hamas will voluntarily disarm is a fantasy, and the idea that an international force will be deployed to Gaza with a mandate of forcibly disarming Hamas is very problematic.
Without Hamas being…
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 28, 2025
Asked about Hamas decommissioning its weapons, Trump said “that’s starting because we are getting into phase two” of the ceasefire.
Hamas claimed it was not responsible for the Rafah attack and affirmed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “forceful strikes” in Gaza on Tuesday after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire-for-hostages agreement.
“Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed the military to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office said that Hamas had released additional partial remains of a fallen Israeli soldier whose body Israel had already recovered in 2023, instead of releasing a 16th deceased hostage.
“This constitutes a clear violation of the agreement by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the Prime Minister’s Office wrote. “Prime Minister Netanyahu will hold a security discussion with the heads of the security establishment to discuss Israel’s steps in response to the violations.”
Under Trump’s peace plan, the Palestinian terror organization committed to handing over all 48 hostages—both living and deceased—on Oct. 13. While the 20 living captives were all freed that day, Hamas has been slow-walking the return of the 28 bodies.
So far, Hamas has returned only 15. Jerusalem reportedly believes that the terror organization can find at least 10 of the 13 remaining bodies.
Footage published by the IDF on Tuesday afternoon showed Hamas terrorists staging the recovery of Ofir Tzarfati’s remains in front of the Red Cross, initially by throwing remains out of a window into a pit and then covering it with dirt in front of what appears to be an ICRC team.
Hamas are lying about our hostages and here’s the proof:
Yesterday, Hamas terrorists were filmed removing body remains from a prepared structure and re-burying them nearby, before summoning Red Cross representatives to stage a false “discovery” for photographers.
Despite… pic.twitter.com/c9CkJo3msW
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 28, 2025
“Despite claiming difficulty locating the bodies of deceased hostages, Hamas continues to hold and manipulate the remains it refuses to release under the agreement,” the IDF said. “Hamas’ claims of lacking engineering equipment are baseless, such tools are unnecessary for the transfer of remains and do not prevent the return of the deceased hostages.”
