70 People Killed In Israeli Attack On Gaza, President Trump Calls Ceasefire Still Valid

President Trump at the door of Air Force One aircraft. (Wikimedia Commons/Official White House Photo/Shealah Craighead)

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump said a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip remained in effect, as Israel continued attacks on the Palestinian enclave and killed dozens of people on Wednesday.

Gaza health authorities said Israeli attacks killed at least 70 people, including five people in a house that was hit by an attack on a Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, four people in a building in the Sabra neighborhood, Gaza City, and five people in a car in Khan Younis.

President Trump said the US-backed ceasefire was not at risk even though Israeli planes attacked the enclave, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the violations of the ceasefire.

"As far as I can understand, they shot dead an Israeli soldier," President Trump told reporters on the Air Force One plane.

"So Israel retaliated and they should retaliate. When that happens, they should retaliate," he added.

An Israeli military official said Hamas had violated the ceasefire by launching an attack on Israeli troops stationed within the so-called 'yellow lines', a line of placement agreed upon in the ceasefire.

The Israeli military confirmed the death of its troops as a result of the attack on Wednesday.

"Nothing will jeopardize" the ceasefire, said President Trump.

"You have to understand that Hamas is just a small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to be good," he said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack, following a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying he had ordered a "catastrophic attack" immediately.

The Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, and US-mediated ceasefire agreement came into force on October 10, halting a two-year war sparked by a deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The two sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

"If they (Hamas) are good, they will be happy and if they are not good, they will be killed, their lives will be taken away," said President Trump.

"No one knows what happened to the Israeli army, but they said it was sniper fire. And it was retaliation for what happened, and I think they had the right to do that," he said.

Separately, Hamas denied responsibility for the attack on Israeli forces in Rafah, in southern Gaza, and said in a statement they remained committed to a ceasefire agreement.