US President Donald Trump warned Hamas it would be “eradicated” if it breaches the Gaza deal with Israel, but said he would give the Palestinian militant group a chance to honour the truce.

Vice President JD Vance headed to Israel shortly after Mr Trump’s comments, joining two top US envoys after weekend violence threatened to wreck the fragile ceasefire.

“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,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House as he hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

US Vice President JD Vance boards Air Force Two en route to Israel at Joint Base Andrews on October 20, 2025. The Trump administration has redoubled its efforts to bolster a fragile ceasefire in Gaza after a flare-up of violence, with Vice President JD Vance due in Israel on October 21 hot on the he
US Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha left Washington for Israel without commenting to reporters

“And if they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them, if we have to. They’ll be eradicated, and they know that,” he added.

Mr Trump helped broker the Gaza deal nearly two weeks ago but it has repeatedly come under threat as Israel accuses Hamas of stalling on handing over dead hostages, and of launching attacks.

“They got very rambunctious, and they did things that they shouldn’t be doing, and if they keep doing it, then we’re going to go in and straighten it out, and it’ll happen very quickly,” he said.

GAZA - OCTOBER 20: Civil defense teams conduct search and recovery operations to retrieve the bodies of Palestinians from the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks, facing major difficulties due to Israel's ban on the entry of heavy machinery and rescue equipment since the beginning of th
Civil defence teams conduct search and recovery operations to retrieve the bodies of Palestinians from the rubble in Gaza

Mr Trump said that Hamas was now far weaker, especially as regional backer Iran was now unlikely to step in on its behalf following US and Israeli strikes this year.

“They don’t have the backing of really anybody anymore. They have to be good, and if they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated,” President Trump stressed.

Mr Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser son-in-law Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday to discuss “developments and updates in the region”, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office said.

Mr Vance and his wife Usha later left Washington for Israel without commenting to reporters.

They were also due to meet with Mr Netanyahu, the prime minister’s office said.

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 20: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks as he welcomes the Louisiana State University (LSU) and LSU-Shreveport 2025 national champion baseball teams during an event in the East Room of the White House on October 20, 2025 in Washington, DC Trump honored the LSU Tiger
US President Donald Trump warned Hamas it would be “eradicated” if it breaches the Gaza deal

It comes as Israel said it has received the remains of another Gaza hostage handed over as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.

“Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffin of a missing hostage who was handed over to the IDF (military) and Shin Bet forces inside the Gaza Strip,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

The military and Shin Bet later confirmed the remains were back in Israel, and were being sent to “the National Institute for Forensic Medicine, where identification procedures will be carried out”.

A senior Hamas official said the group’s armed wing had handed over the captive’s remains to the Red Cross after receiving them from the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades – the armed wing of the Marxist-Leninist movement the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).