When asked if he would prefer Mr Netanyahu to implement the second phase of the hostage deal or fight Hamas, Mr Trump said: “I am [okay with Israel resuming the war if they choose].
However, Mr Trump appeared to provide Mr Netanyahu political cover on Friday, saying the prime minister is “not torn” on whether Israel commits to the deal’s next phase or goes back to war.
Ismail al-Thawabteh, one of the terror group’s senior officials, implied – as the group been doing since November 2023 – that Mrs Bibas had been killed by Israeli bombardment, saying that her body was “turned into pieces after apparently being mixed with other bodies under the rubble”.
Hamas said it would investigate the matter, but in a different statement the group declared itself “surprised by the uproar”, accusing Mr Netanyahu of stoking the row for his own political ends.
The IDF has previously said it believed the Bibas mother and children were captured and initially held by an affiliate terror group, rather than Hamas itself.
