Israel News, Sunday, 19.10.2025  
  An attack by a stranded Hamas unit in Rafah has exposed the deal’s fatal flaw: the text left too many dangerous scenarios unresolved. Now, a high-level U.S. team must grapple with the ambiguities that could easily lead back to war 

 Amir Tibon



 When U.S. President Donald Trump visited Israel last week, he arrived for a celebration. It was a happy day: The living hostages held by Hamas were returned from Gaza, the war was over, and from Jerusalem, he flew directly to a momentous signing ceremony in Egypt with Arab and European leaders to mark a new chapter for Israel and Gaza.

Only a week later, Vice President JD Vance is expected in Israel on Tuesday, together with Trump’s senior advisers, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. This time, there seems to be much less to celebrate. The cease-fire agreement signed by Israel and Hamas was full of vague wording that left significant loopholes. Trump came to receive the applause he deserves for brokering the deal; but now, his team is arriving to make sure the agreement doesn’t collapse under the weight of its own ambiguity.

The text left many issues unanswered and many problems unresolved. One of them, for example, was the fate of Hamas fighters stranded in the areas of Gaza held by Israel when the cease-fire went into effect. Israel currently controls about half of Gaza, and until the cease-fire was signed, fighting against Hamas guerrilla teams continued in those areas. The cease-fire didn’t specify what would happen with those small Hamas crews once the fighting stops.

On Sunday, one such team attacked IDF troops that were “clearing” a specific area in Rafah, the city most heavily destroyed during the war. Israel says this is a violation of the cease-fire. Technically, that’s true; but it’s not clear if this specific group of Hamas fighters, trapped behind the new cease-fire lines, acted on commands from the leadership of the terror organization or took their own initiative. Hamas will probably try to distance itself from the incident and describe it as a reaction to Israeli operations in Rafah.

This is just one example of the cease-fire text not covering complicated scenarios that can arise on the ground in a destroyed war zone. There is no mechanism to address the issue of Hamas fighters left behind the “yellow line” that marks Israel’s current area of control. There’s also no defined or agreed-upon “escalation ladder” to refer to if the deal is breached. Can Israel now, according to the agreement, renew the war in Gaza in full force? Can it take other, more restrained measures to punish Hamas? Or does it have to wait for specific approval by the U.S. for any action it plans in response?

The United States’ response to Hamas’ killing of its opponents inside Gaza, which has been happening in full force since the war’s end, has been contradictory. Last Thursday, Trump said he had no problem with the terror organization going after “gangs” in the streets of Gaza. By Saturday night, the State Department issued a press release that did not acknowledge the executions Hamas had already carried out, but instead warned of an “imminent” attack planned by Hamas “against the people of Gaza.”

All these problems – plus the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and a timetable for Hamas’ disarmament and the IDF’s next withdrawal – are awaiting Vance, Kushner and Witkoff in Jerusalem. A successful visit will end with the cease-fire still in place, despite everything, and momentum toward the implementation of its next stages. The alternative is a return to war – and a collapse of what Trump, just days ago, described as his biggest foreign policy achievement.