US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar

Reflecting on the newly announced ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group, US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who is set to become White House national security adviser under incoming President Donald Trump, has vowed that the Trump administration will support Israel renewing military operations in Gaza if Hamas launches more attacks against the Jewish state and violates the agreement.

While speaking to Fox News host Bret Baier on Wednesday evening, Waltz was pressed on whether he believes Hamas will eventually reassemble its military forces in Gaza after the war ends. Waltz batted down any concerns that the ceasefire agreement would lead to a resurgence of Hamas-induced violence in Gaza.

“We’ve made it very clear to the Israelis, and I want the people of Israel to hear me on this: If they need to go back in, we’re with them. If Hamas doesn’t live up to the terms of this agreement, we are with them,” Waltz said. “Hamas is not going to continue as a military entity, and it is certainly not going to govern Gaza.”

Waltz suggested that terrorist groups in the Middle East are fearful of the incoming White House, pointing to the Trump administration’s successful assassination of former top Iranian military commander Qasem Solemani during his first term in 2020.

On Wednesday, negotiators reached a deal to implement a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, potentially ending 15 months of war sparked by the terrorist group’s invasion of the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023. During the onslaught, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages to Gaza.

The agreement outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Hostages taken by Hamas would be freed in exchange for many more Palestinian prisoners who have been detained in Israel largely for involvement terrorist activities.

Phase one of the deal entails the release of 33 of the hostages in Gaza, including all women, children, and men over 50.

Some 98 hostages are still in captivity in Gaza, and at least a third of them are believed to be dead.

“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November,” Trump wrote on social media. 

The deal would also allow for a surge of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, providing residents with much-needed reprieve. Approximately 600 trucks of humanitarian aid would enter Gaza on a daily basis following the finalization of the ceasefire deal. 

However, despite widespread celebration over the breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the ceasefire agreement. 

“Hamas is reneging on the understandings and creating a last-minute crisis that is preventing an agreement,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.”

Later on Thursday, however, Israeli officials said the last obstacles to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal had been ironed out and Israel’s security cabinet was set to approve it on Friday. The agreement is supposed to go into effect on Sunday.