Trump again threatens Hamas after IDF opens fire on several terrorists crossing ceasefire ‘yellow line’

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday renewed his threats to “unleash” Israel and allow it to return to fighting in the Gaza Strip if the terror group won’t honor its commitment to the peace deal.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) opened fire at several more Hamas operatives after they crossed the ceasefire line into territory held by Israel in violation of the terms of the agreement.

Trump has been threatening Hamas on a near-daily basis for the past days, as the terror group has pursued a brutal crackdown on its opponents in the Gaza Strip. In addition, terrorists killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded several more on Sunday.

“We made a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very good, they’re going to behave, they’re going to be nice, and if not, we’re going to eradicate them if we have to,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Monday.

Apparently transitioning to speak about Hamas’ summary executions of opponents, he continued, “I don’t believe it was the leadership, but they have some rebellion in there among themselves. They killed some people – a lot of people.”

However, in previous comments, he had suggested that the attacks against Israeli soldiers were not coordinated with Hamas leaders but were spontaneous actions by operatives on the ground.

“But this is a violent group… They got very rambunctious and they did things that they shouldn’t be doing. If they keep doing it, then we’re going to straighten it out, and it’ll happen very quickly and pretty violently,” Trump said.

“We had countries calling me when they saw the killing with Hamas, saying, ‘We’d love to go in and take care of the situation ourselves,’” he added.

“In addition, Israel would go in in two minutes if I asked them to go in. I could tell them, ‘Go in and take care of it.’ But right now, we haven’t said that. We’re going to give it a little chance,” he concluded his comments on this issue.

On the ground in Gaza, Hamas operatives continued to cross the ceasefire line in several areas over the past days. Therefore, IDF troops have begun marking the Yellow Line on the ground, with concrete barriers painted yellow, placed some 200 meters (656 feet) apart.

On Monday, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to convey “a clear message” to Hamas’ commander in Gaza via the American ceasefire oversight mechanism saying “Any Hamas operative found beyond the yellow line in territory under Israeli control must withdraw immediately.”

“Hamas leaders will be held responsible for every incident. Anyone who remains in the area will be treated as a target for strike with no further warning, so that IDF forces can operate freely and immediately against any threat,” Katz’s office stated.

“The protection of IDF soldiers is the top priority and we will take all necessary measures to ensure that.”

The military said Monday that troops identified several terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line, and “approached IDF troops operating in the Shejaiya area, posing an immediate threat to them.”

The soldiers responded by opening fire “in order to remove the threat to them,” the IDF’s statement read and continued saying that “A short while later, the IDF identified a number of additional terrorists who crossed the yellow line and approached IDF troops operating in the Shejaiya area.”

Soldiers again opened fire at them. On Tuesday morning, these incidents continued as an Israeli aircraft reportedly struck several terrorists crossing the line in the Khan Younis area.

“IDF troops in the Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the ceasefire agreement, and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the military affirmed.