US remains optimistic on Gaza deal as Israel quickly turns impatient

U.S. officials said Wednesday that a White House-brokered Middle East plan remains on track despite Israel’s threat to resume its war in Gaza and attacks by Hamas against other Palestinians within the territory.

Two senior U.S. advisers outlined the administration’s view hours after Israeli officials raised the possibility of renewing their military campaign against Hamas, which they asserted was not moving quickly enough to return the bodies of deceased captives.

One of the U.S. advisers admitted there could be “hiccups in the implementation” of the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that the U.S. helped broker between Israel and Hamas but insisted that both parties appeared to be following through on their commitments and called for patience.

“This is a very delicate situation after two years of war, and a lot could still occur,” the U.S. adviser said in a call with reporters. “But right now, the intention is to keep working with both parties, getting them both to show restraint and creating the right conditions for a demilitarization of Gaza to occur.”

The adviser also disagreed somewhat pointedly with Israel’s contention that Hamas’ slow retrieval and hand-over of dead hostages amounted to the group reneging on the agreement.

“I think the understanding we had with them was: We get all the live hostages out, which they did honor that,” the adviser said. “And right now, we have a mechanism in place, where we're working closely with the mediators and with them, to do our best to get as many bodies out as possible.”

The officials also acknowledged an outbreak of internecine violence within Gaza after Hamas fighters began executing Palestinian rivals following the announcement of the peace deal. The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations, also issued a statement urging Hamas to stop shooting at civilians and noting that its concerns have been shared with international mediators.

“We've been working with the mediators to send a message to say we'd really like to see that stop,” the U.S. adviser said, adding that the administration was also “working with Israel to try and create some space in the safe zone behind the yellow line for people who feel a threat to be able to go to.”

The phase one agreement celebrated by Trump Monday on a visit to Israel and Egypt called for Hamas to hand over the roughly two dozen deceased hostages — but it also acknowledged that some could be difficult to recover from the rubble. Hamas handed over eight bodies but said Wednesday it would be unable to recover any others without special equipment.

U.S. officials, the two U.S. advisers said, are working with Arab partners to implement phase one but cautioned that phase two, which calls for demilitarizing Hamas, could take several weeks.

“Getting that done is a very, very hard feat, and right now, we're in the process of defining how to get there in a way where everyone feels safe,” the first adviser said. “What do you transition to? It's not realistic to think everyone's just going to walk in, drop their arms and say, ‘hey, there you go.’ A lot of the people, even on the Hamas side, are fearful of retribution from other people inside Gaza, so it's a very complex dynamic.”