Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene the Security Cabinet this week after ministers decried a decision to re-enforce the Gaza ceasefire following Sunday’s violations, which was not brought to the cabinet.
“At the meeting where the deal was approved, we did not talk about what comes next,” cabinet ministers told The Jerusalem Post. “We need to discuss the continuation of the Trump plan – which foreign forces, if any, will operate in the Gaza Strip, how Hamas’s disarmament will look, and many other issues that the cabinet has never addressed.”
Sunday’s airstrikes were carried out in response to an RPG strike on a military vehicle which resulted in the death of two IDF soldiers from Modi’in. On Monday, Israel refrained from launching strikes against Hamas targets, and humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip as usual.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration is taking many steps to maintain the ceasefire.
“Israel will enter Gaza with two minutes’ notice if I tell them to. For now, we’re not doing that – we’re giving Hamas a little more time. If they don’t behave nicely, they’ll be destroyed,” the president said.
Vance set to visit Israel, Gaza vantage point
Earlier Monday, Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, arrived in Israel and met with Netanyahu. US Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Tuesday for meetings with the prime minister, President Isaac Herzog, and families of hostages.
He will also visit a vantage point overlooking the entire Gaza Strip, as Witkoff and Kushner have done.
Senior US officials emphasized that, despite the challenges and Hamas’s violations, the administration remains committed to advancing the Trump plan. “The most important thing is to prevent a power vacuum in the Strip that could allow Hamas to regain strength,” a US official told the Post.
Kushner and Witkoff told Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials that “it is legitimate to act in self-defense – but not in a way that endangers the ceasefire.”
Netanyahu responded: “We are committed to the ceasefire; Hamas is the one violating it.”
The two also met with senior IDF generals to discuss the continuation of the Trump plan and the situation in the Gaza Strip.