US envoys meet Netanyahu after Gaza violence

TEL AVIV

Two of the United States' top envoys to the Middle East met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Oct. 20 after weekend violence threatened to wreck a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

The sit-down came as Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Gaza for aid shipments, a security official and a humanitarian source said, after the entry point was closed briefly on Oct. 19 following the killing of two Israeli soldiers.

In response, Israel carried out dozens of strikes targeting Hamas across Gaza, accusing the militant group of "a blatant violation" of the truce, an accusation it denied.

But both sides insisted that they remained committed to the ceasefire and U.S. President Donald Trump, who helped broker the deal, told reporters in Washington that as far as he was concerned, it was still in effect.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Netanyahu on Monday to discuss "developments and updates in the region," Shosh Bedrosian, spokeswoman for the prime minister's office, told journalists.

Bedrosian added that U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife were also due to visit Israel "for a few days and will be meeting with the prime minister," without elaborating.

Asked by reporters whether the truce was still in effect on Sunday, Trump said: "Yeah, it is".

"We want to make sure that it's going to be very peaceful with Hamas," he said. "It's going to be handled toughly, but properly."

Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said Israeli strikes killed at least 45 people across the territory on Oct. 19 alone.

Four hospitals in Gaza confirmed the death toll to AFP, while Israel's military said it was looking into the reports of casualties.

The army said that, after carrying out air strikes in response to a deadly attack on its soldiers, it had "renewed enforcement of the ceasefire" late Oct. 19 but would "respond firmly to any violation of it."

Hamas denied knowledge of any attack, with one official accusing Israel of fabricating "pretexts" to resume the war.

A delegation from the group was in Cairo on Oct. 20 for talks with Qatari and Egyptian mediators on the continuation of the truce, and on the previous day's "air strikes that killed dozens in the Gaza Strip," according to a source close to the negotiations.

The meetings will also touch on an upcoming intra-Palestinian dialogue hosted by Egypt aiming "to unify the Palestinian factions," the source told AFP.

As part of the ceasefire deal, Hamas has released the 20 surviving hostages it held and is in the process of returning the remaining bodies of those who have died.

The group's armed wing said it would return on Oct. 20 the remains of one more hostage recovered the day before.

If the handover takes place, it will be the 13th deceased hostage returned by Hamas since the ceasefire took effect.

Israel has so far returned the bodies of 150 Palestinians in exchange for the hostages' remains, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Israel has linked the reopening of the Rafah crossing, the main gateway into Gaza from Egypt, to the recovery of all of the deceased.

Hamas has said it needs time and technical assistance to recover the remaining bodies.

The ceasefire, which began on Oct. 10, halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas.