US President Donald Trump's advisers, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, spoke by phone with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer to coordinate the response to clashes in the southern Gaza Strip, Axios reported.
According to the website, American officials told the Israelis that they should not seek to resume the war, but isolate Hamas and work to create an alternative center to replace it in the Gaza Strip.
— Nobody wants a return to full-scale war. The Israelis want to show Hamas that it must face the consequences, but they also do not want to ruin the peace agreement, said an American official quoted by Axios.
The article continues below the video
Israel has resumed airstrikes in the Gaza Strip
The Israeli army said it was attacked on Sunday morning near the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by “terrorists” and returned fire.
Later military and army statements attributed the attack to Hamas, accusing it of violating the ceasefire in force since October 10. Hamas denies these allegations, does not claim responsibility for the attack and says it is observing the ceasefire.
These were the most serious clashes since the US-sponsored truce.
The adoption of the peace plan was a great success for Trump, but the US administration believes that the agreement is fragile and both sides have taken actions that could weaken it, Axios wrote.
The American government therefore plans to increase control over the implementation of the agreement to ensure that it does not fall apart, the website added.
US Vice President JD Vance, as well as Witkoff and Kushner, considered the main architects of the agreement, are scheduled to visit Israel in the coming days.
