U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Israel on Monday morning to discuss the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, a day after Hamas killed two IDF soldiers and the Israeli Air Force struck in Rafah in response.

Hamas terrorists shot an anti-tank missile at heavy machinery used by the IDF to destroy the terrorist organization’s tunnels in Rafah, killing two soldiers on Sunday. Hamas claimed that the explosion was due to the machinery driving over an IED, but the IDF suspected the attack was part of an attempt to capture soldiers, Walla! News reported. 

There have been several other recent attacks by Hamas, including two on Friday in which terrorists emerged from tunnels and shot at IDF soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the heads of Israel’s defense establishment to “take strong action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” his office stated soon after the Israeli strikes on Sunday. The Israeli army, however, announced on Sunday night, “In accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and following a series of significant strikes in response to Hamas’ violations, the IDF has begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire. The IDF will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation of it.”

The Rafah strikes came nearly a week after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect. Hamas was supposed to free all 48 hostages that remained in Gaza at the time within 72 hours, according to the summary of the 20-point plan released by the White House. However, it only released the 20 living ones, and has been gradually handing over the bodies of deceased hostages; 16 bodies remain in Gaza.

In addition, Hamas terrorists have repeatedly launched attacks on Israeli soldiers, and Palestinians have crossed into areas in which IDF troops are deployed, in accordance with the ceasefire deal, leading the soldiers to shoot and kill several of them.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, called for “a full renewal of the fighting in the [Gaza] Strip, at full force. False imaginings that Hamas will change its skin or will even fulfill the agreement it signed have turned out, as expected, to be dangerous to our security. The Nazi terrorist organization must be fully destroyed, as soon as possible.” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich simply posted: “War!”

The first phase of President Donald Trump’s deal had Israel withdraw to the “yellow line,” moving out of Gaza City and other areas, but remaining in control of 53% of Gaza, including Rafah. The IDF began posting concrete blocks painted yellow along that line on Sunday morning, as a warning to “Hamas terrorists and Gaza residents that any violation or attempt to cross the line will be met with fire,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said when he announced the erection of the physical boundary on Friday.

Hamas has also been clashing with and executing members of rival gangs and Gaza residents it has accused of collaborating with Israel. The State Department released a statement on Saturday warning that a Hamas “attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement” and, should they continue, “measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire.” 

Netanyahu’s office announced on Saturday night that the Rafah crossing, the main entrance for goods into Gaza, would remain closed as long as Hamas does not release the hostages’ bodies. However, IDF soldiers posted videos to social media of trucks of fuel entering Gaza on Sunday. 

Witkoff and Kushner, who has a key role in the administration’s Middle East efforts, are expected to start talks with Jerusalem about the second phase of the ceasefire deal, in which Hamas would be disarmed, Gaza would be demilitarized, the IDF would withdraw further and be replaced by an international stabilization force, and a technocratic government would be installed in Gaza, under the supervision of a Peace Board led by Trump and including former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.

This story was updated on Oct. 20, 2025, at 04:20 a.m. ET.

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff predicted on Thursday that the Abraham Accords will “seriously expand” in response to the end of fighting in Gaza. Witkoff was addressing attendees at an event commemorating the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.

“No leader has done more for the Jewish people or the State of Israel than President Trump,” Witkoff, speaking at an event at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, said. “He moved our embassy to Jerusalem, he recognized Israel’s sovereignty over Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and the Golan Heights. He forged the Abraham peace Accords, which will seriously expand now,” Witkoff said. 

The White House envoy, who returned from the region earlier this week after the implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire, posited that Trump winning a second term last November was “the major breakthrough of this conflict.” 

“The moment that result was declared, the world changed, and so did the negotiations. Hamas and every party in the region understood that President Trump, his return to office, meant strength, accountability and action,” Witkoff explained. “Even before taking office, President Trump made it clear he wanted progress by the day he stepped into the Oval Office, and shortly thereof, we struck a ceasefire and hostage release deal that began to turn the tide.”

“The success of that first hostage release was made possible by President Trump’s 20-point plan, a strategy that united the Arab world behind this effort. Nations like Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and many others came aboard because peace and civility are in everybody’s interests,” he added.

Witkoff went on to commend the Arab state negotiators and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former senior advisor, arguing that they collectively pressured Hamas to release the remaining hostages. All 20 living hostages were freed on Monday, while the terror group has slow-walked the repatriation of the bodies of deceased hostages 

“In the final phase, at President Trump’s directive, Jared Kushner, a great American, and I flew to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the last round of negotiations, led by Qatari, Egyptian and Turkey’s mediators. They were incredible and without them we would not be where we are today,” Witkoff said. “Jared was tremendous. Together, we convinced Hamas that keeping the remaining 20 hostages was no longer an asset, it was a liability, and they began to believe it.”

Witkoff acknowledged that Israel has yet to receive the remains of the deceased hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, but said the administration was working toward their release.

“We didn’t get everybody back. We’ve gotten [nine deceased hostages] back and we will pursue the return of the … deceased until they all go home, and I’m confident that they will,” Witkoff said. 

Witkoff also referenced his several recent visits to Gaza during his remarks, pointing out that Gazans he’s engaged with “want peace too. They want stability, opportunity, a better life for their children. A future for Gazans must include jobs, education, hope, aspirations, not just guns and violence. Israel should never have to live under the threat of rockets flying at its people or the fear of terrorist attacks, but Gaza’s people must be able to live a decent life as well.”

“We have to be clear, Hamas must unequivocally disarm. They have no future in Gaza,” he continued. “Only when extremism ends does prosperity begin.”

Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, Trump’s nominee to serve as antisemitism envoy; Ben Ladany, a former IDF sergeant in the elite Oketz K-9 Unit who was shot seven times in November 2023 while fighting Hamas in Gaza; and Almog Meir Jan, an Israeli hostage held by a Palestinian journalist after being taken from the Nova music festival, also spoke at the event. 

Nat Shaffir, a Holocaust survivor and USHMM volunteer, and 18 other Holocaust survivors, were among those in attendance, in addition to Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL); Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the executive director of the White House task force overseeing the 2026 FIFA World Cup whom Trump appointed in his first term to sit on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council; Alex Witkoff, the son of Steve Witkoff and CEO of the Witkoff Group who also sits on the council; Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad); and Alina Habba, the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey and the president’s former personal attorney.