'Don’t say you weren’t warned': Trump openly defied by Israeli officials during visit

A number of high-ranking Israeli officials are openly defying President Donald Trump and his Gaza peace plan amid the president’s visit to Jerusalem on Monday, publicly rejecting key elements of his proposal on social media.

“Israel’s defense minister says the bombing will continue after they get their hostages back,” wrote British journalist and former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan in a social media post on Sunday. “Don’t say you weren’t warned.”

Both Israel and Hamas agreed, in part, to a peace plan last week that would see Hamas return all of the remaining Israeli hostages and agree to end its hostilities – in return, Israel would begin a phased withdrawal of Gaza and release 1,950 Palestinians it currently holds captive, 1,700 of which were detained after Oct. 7, 2023 and held “without charge.”

However, just ahead of Trump’s address Monday to the Knesset – Israel’s legislative body – top Israeli officials continue to openly oppose key elements of the proposal.

“Israel's great challenge after the phase of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas's terror tunnels in Gaza, directly by the [Israel Defense Forces] and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States,” wrote Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in a social media post on X Sunday, auto-translated from its original Hebrew.

“I have instructed the IDF to prepare for carrying out the mission.”

Hamas, however, has refused to permit the dismantling of its tunnel network under Trump’s plan – a standoff that could set the stage for Israel to resume its siege of Gaza.

“They don't even bother hiding it,” wrote Humza Yousaf, former first minister of Scotland and a current member of its parliament, in a social media post on X Sunday.

“Israel's Defense Minister openly saying they intend to ignore Trump's peace plan and bomb Gaza as soon as the hostages are returned. No doubt Israel will say they are targeting Hamas, just as they did when they killed 20,000 children in Gaza.”

Whether or not Israel will continue its siege on Gaza following the peace agreement, which saw all remaining living Israeli hostages returned early Monday morning, was cast into further doubt as Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to declare the conflict resolved, something Trump was pressed on while aboard Air Force One Sunday en route to Israel.

“Netanyahu has not gone so far as to say the war is over,” a reporter aboard Air Force One asked Trump Sunday. “In your view, is the war between Israel and Hamas over?”

“The war is over!” Trump responded. “The war is over, the war is over! Do you understand that?”

Katz is not the only high-ranking Israeli official pouring cold water on Trump’s peace plan. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have both spoken ill of the plan, and vowed retaliation against Netanyahu should Hamas “continue to exist” following the hostage exchange, despite Hamas being granted amnesty under the plan, so long as they agree to lay down arms and not play a role in the future government of Gaza.