Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

US envoys met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday aiming to corral Israel and Hamas to get the Gaza ceasefire plan back on track after an explosion of violence over the weekend that threatened to derail the week-old truce.

Israel and Hamas have both recommitted to the ceasefire plan brokered by US President Donald Trump since Sunday’s flare-up in which a Palestinian attack that killed two soldiers prompted an Israeli bombardment in Gaza.

However, with even the first stages of the truce shaken by repeated flashes of violence, including on Monday, it was far from clear whether the US will be able to keep pressure on the two sides and maintain momentum to end the conflict.

The latest events reflected the stumbling blocks to keeping the long-sought ceasefire from unraveling and securing a lasting peace after two years of war in Gaza. Key questions of Hamas disarming, further Israeli troop pullbacks, and future governance of the Palestinian enclave remain unresolved.

TALKS ON NEXT PHASE OF CEASEFIRE PLAN

Trump, keeping pressure on both Hamas and Israel as he seeks to salvage the signature foreign policy achievement of the first year of his second term, said on Monday the US was taking many steps to maintain the ceasefire.

He told reporters the “Hamas situation” would be handled quickly but that he had not told Israel to “go in and take care of it.” He said that while Hamas was in violation of the agreement, he did not believe its leadership was responsible but that it was facing “some rebellion” in its ranks.

If Hamas leaders do not straighten it out, “we’re going to eradicate them if we have to,” Trump said at the White House. But he insisted that such actions would not involve US troops on the ground.

During their visit that began on Monday, the US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, were expected to try to shore up the truce then start talks on the next, more difficult, phase of the 20-step plan.

US Vice President JD Vance was also due to visit Israel on Tuesday, with Netanyahu saying the pair would discuss regional challenges and opportunities.

High-level US diplomacy in the region, with talks also due later on Monday with Hamas in Egypt, underscored the priority Trump has placed on cementing the ceasefire after proclaiming last week the deal heralded “the historic dawn of a new Middle East.”

On Monday, Palestinian medics said three more people had been killed by Israeli tank fire near the “yellow line” inside Gaza demarcating Israel’s initial military pullback from the main populated areas.

The Israeli military said forces had fired at militants who crossed that line, which it was started marking with concrete barriers and yellow poles about every 200 meters (219 yards).

Gaza City residents reported confusion over the line’s location due to the lack of a visible boundary.

HAMAS TO HAND OVER BODY OF ANOTHER HOSTAGE

Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to Israel, aimed at discussions on the next phase of Trump’s complex ceasefire plan, was scheduled before Sunday’s flare-up in violence, according to US and Israeli sources.

Israel is unlikely to publicize any progress in the talks until the remains of more hostages are returned.

The Red Cross received the body of another hostage from Hamas on Monday and transferred it to the Israeli military, Netanyahu’s office said.

Israel believes Hamas could hand over up to five more bodies immediately. Other bodies among 15 still in Gaza may be hard to recover because of destruction in the enclave.

Egypt will host talks in Cairo on Monday with Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief, over ways to follow up on implementing the ceasefire, the group said in a statement.

A Palestinian official close to the talks said the group‘s delegation would discuss formation of a technocratic body to run Gaza without Hamas representation.

Hamas and other allied factions reject any foreign administration of Gaza, as envisaged in the Trump plan, and have so far resisted calls to lay down arms, which may complicate implementation of the deal.

RESIDENTS FEAR MORE OUTBREAKS OF VIOLENCE

Israel said it launched strikes across the enclave in response to a Palestinian attack that killed two soldiers operating inside the agreed deployment line in Rafah in southern Gaza.

Hamas’s armed wing said it was unaware of clashes in Rafah and had not been in contact with groups there since March.

Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group, has detailed what it calls a series of violations by Israel that it says killed 46 people and stopped essential supplies from reaching the enclave.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said any Hamas terrorists in areas of Gaza still under Israeli control must leave immediately and anyone remaining beyond the yellow line would be targeted without warning.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif speaks during an interview with Reuters in Islamabad, Pakistan, Oct. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Salahuddin

A ceasefire agreement between Islamabad and Kabul rests on the ruling Afghan Taliban’s ability to rein in militants attacking Pakistan across their shared border, Pakistan‘s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters on Monday, underscoring the fragility of the accord.

The South Asian neighbors agreed to a ceasefire in Doha at the weekend after days of border clashes that killed dozens, the worst such violence since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

Ground fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani airstrikes across their contested 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul control militants, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.

“Anything coming from Afghanistan will be a violation of this agreement,” said Asif, who led the talks with his Afghan counterpart Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob. “Everything hinges on this one clause.”

The Taliban administration and Afghanistan’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

WRITTEN AGREEMENT SAYS NO INCURSIONS FROM AFGHANISTAN

In the written agreement signed by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Qatar, it was clearly spelled out that there would not be any incursions, the minister said in an interview in his office at Pakistan‘s parliament in Islamabad.

“We have a ceasefire agreement as long as there is no violation of the agreement which is already in force.”

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella of several Islamist militant groups, operates out of Afghanistan to attack Pakistan “in connivance” with the ruling Taliban, the minister said.

Kabul denies giving haven to militants to attack Pakistan and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering Islamic State-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty.

Islamabad denies the accusations.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, said on Sunday that at the Doha talks, “It was decided that neither country would take hostile actions against the other, and support will not be provided to groups operating against the government of Pakistan.”

In a follow-up post on X, he said it reflected the Taliban’s longstanding position that Afghanistan’s territory would not be used against any other country.

The statements made about the agreement did not constitute a joint declaration, he said.

KABUL ‘IS NOT A NO-GO AREA’, WARNS PAKISTAN

The Pakistani Taliban, who have been waging a war for years against the Pakistani state in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with their strict brand of Islamic governance, have accelerated attacks in recent months to target Pakistani military.

Pakistan carried out airstrikes on the Afghan capital Kabul, including one on October 9 in an attempt to kill Pakistani Taliban leader Noor Wali Mehsud, Pakistan security officials have said, though he later appeared in a video showing he was alive.

“We were being attacked. Our territory was being attacked. So, we just did tit for tat. We were paying them in the same coin,” Asif said.

“They are in Kabul. They are everywhere. Wherever they are we will attack them. Kabul is not, you know, a no-go area.”

The next round of talks would be held in Istanbul on October 25 to evolve a mechanism on how to enforce the agreement, Asif said.

Qatar’s foreign ministry, which mediated Saturday’s talks along with Turkey, said the follow-up meetings were meant “to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attend a documents signing ceremony in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool

Russia is prepared to expand cooperation with Iran in all areas, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Moscow has close relations with Tehran and condemned US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites earlier this year that were carried out with the stated aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb. Iran denies building a nuclear weapon.

Asked by reporters how Russia saw the development of events around Iran‘s nuclear program and if Moscow would deepen ties with Tehran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Russia is definitely ready to expand cooperation with Iran in all areas. Iran is our partner, and our relations are developing very dynamically.”

Peskov said European countries were putting “excessive pressure” on Iran in regard to negotiations over its nuclear program, adding that the situation was “very complicated.”

An envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with Iran‘s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani later on Monday, less than a week after Larijani met with the Kremlin leader and handed him a message from Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian signed a strategic partnership agreement in January, although the pact does not contain a mutual defense clause. Moscow says it legally supplies Tehran with military equipment, while Iran has provided Russia with drones to use in its war in Ukraine.

Russian state nuclear energy giant Rosatom signed a $25-billion deal last month with Iran to build four nuclear power plants in the country, which suffers from electricity shortages and currently has only one operating nuclear power plant, built by Russia in the southern city of Bushehr.