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Trump Threatens Hamas Amid Push on Next Gaza Truce Steps as Vance Visits Israel
US Vice President JD Vance is welcomed by Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee upon his arrival at Ben Gurion airport in Lod, Israel, Oct. 21, 2025. Photo: Nathan Howard/Pool via REUTERS
US President Donald Trump threatened Hamas on Tuesday with “FAST, FURIOUS & BRUTAL” force if the Palestinian terrorist group does not “do what is right” as he pushes for the next, more complex, stage of a Gaza ceasefire that has already been repeatedly tested.
Increasing the pressure on the Islamist group, Trump said in a social media post that numerous US allies had said they would welcome the chance to go into Gaza and hit Hamas but he had told them and Israel “not yet.”
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeated breaches of the truce since it was signed eight days ago, with flashes of violence and recriminations over the pace of returning hostage bodies, bringing in aid, and opening borders.
VANCE IS VISITING ISRAEL
US Vice President JD Vance, who arrived on Tuesday, was due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday for talks Israel said would focus on security challenges and political opportunities.
Those are expected to focus on Trump‘s 20-point ceasefire plan that will require moving beyond the existing, shaky ceasefire, to much more difficult steps including the disarmament of Hamas and a path towards a Palestinian state.
The trip follows Monday’s talks between Netanyahu and US envoys Steven Witkoff and Trump‘s son-in-law Jared Kushner and comes as Hamas meets mediators in Cairo.
Israel is pressing for stronger assurances on Hamas disarming – a step to which the group has so far refused to commit – said a source briefed on the matter.
Hamas‘s Cairo talks, led by the group’s exiled leader Khalil al-Hayya, are also looking at prospects for the next phase of the truce and post-war arrangements in Gaza as well as stabilizing the existing ceasefire.
The head of intelligence for key Gaza mediator Egypt met Netanyahu earlier on Tuesday to discuss advancing the ceasefire plan and other issues, Israel said. The intelligence chief, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, will later meet Witkoff, Egyptian television reported.
Underscoring the fragility of the truce, Qatar, another of the mediators and a chief backer of Hamas, on Tuesday accused Israel of “continuous violations.” It and Turkey, which has used its role to bolster its regional position, have been key interlocutors with Hamas.
On Sunday a Palestinian in Gaza attack killed two Israeli soldiers, leading to military strikes against Hamas targets in response.
FUTURE ROLE OF HAMAS?
Trump‘s plan called for the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian committee overseen by an international board with Hamas taking no role in governance.
A Palestinian official close to the talks said Hamas encouraged the formation of such a committee to run Gaza without any of its representatives, but with the consent of the group as well as the Palestinian Authority and other factions.
Last week, senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal told Reuters the group expected to maintain a security role on the ground in Gaza during an undefined interim period.
Hamas last week battled rival gangs on the streets in Gaza and publicly executed men it accused of having collaborated with Israel. Trump condoned the killings but the US military’s Middle East command urged Hamas to stop violence “without delay.”
Vance was expected to visit the headquarters of joint forces led by the US military and meant to help with Gaza stabilization efforts.
RETURN OF BODIES AND AID DELIVERIES
Speaking to Egyptian television late on Monday, Hayya reaffirmed the group’s compliance with the truce and said it would fulfil its obligations in the first phase, including returning more bodies of hostages.
“Let their [hostages’ bodies return to their families, and let the bodies of our martyrs return to their families to be buried in dignity,” he said.
Hamas released another hostage body late on Monday and said it would hand over two more late on Tuesday. That would leave another 13 bodies in Gaza. Israel believes Hamas could still return more bodies soon but has recognized that some remains would likely need a slower, more complex, process of location and retrieval.
Israel handed back another 15 Palestinian bodies on Tuesday, local health authorities said, taking the total it has returned to Gaza to 165.
Inside the enclave on Tuesday, more aid was flowing in through two Israeli-controlled crossings, Palestinian and UN officials said.
However, the UN World Food Program said supplies were ramping up but fell far short of its daily target of 2,000 tons, saying this was because only two crossings into Gaza were open. It said none had reached the north of Gaza yet.
Violence in Gaza since the truce has mostly focused been around the “yellow line” demarcating Israel’s military pullback. On Tuesday Israel’s public Kan radio reported troops had killed a person crossing the line and advancing towards them.
Palestinians near the line have said it is not clearly marked and hard to know where the exclusion zone begins. Israeli bulldozers began placing yellow concrete blocks along the route on Monday.
Hamas‘s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people, with another 251 dragged into Gaza as hostages.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.