Ceasefire In Jeopardy: Hamas Violence Tests Trump’s Plan

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – President Trump has threatened to use U.S. military force inside Gaza amid a fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.

The threat comes as Hamas-linked gunmen carried out a public execution in Gaza. 

Hamas’s aim to retain power in Gaza involves keeping all the guns. With no law, order or any alternative administration under the ceasefire, the group is using violence to deter rivals. For Hamas, there are now new priorities, and they do not involve giving up guns.

Due to Hamas violence on the ground in Gaza, Israel has again delayed the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt to allow for the movement of people. It could be open on Sunday, as Israeli attacks killed at least three Palestinian militants in southern Gaza.

Israel and Hamas have traded accusations of ceasefire violations amid tensions over the flow of aid into Gaza and warnings that the humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory risks deteriorating further.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has warned that infectious diseases are “spiraling out of control” in the Gaza Strip, with only 13 of the Palestinian territory’s 36 hospitals even partially functioning.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense news from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

The things that bedevil U.S. cyber power. There remains a persistent and dangerous gap between America’s strategic cyber ambitions and how these capabilities are integrated into warfighting. Without urgent action, we could end up with a cyber force that looks formidable, but rests on weak tactical foundations.

HOMELAND SECURITY

Soldiers being contacted by adversaries on LinkedIn and Reddit. Army Counterintelligence Command is addressing the modern dangers soldiers are facing at the hands of foreign enemies in 2025.

A federal appeals court continued to block Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops within the Chicago area amid ongoing immigration protests but allowed the service members to remain under federal control.

Construction began on a $230 million defense contract to replace 15 miles of fencing along a training range in Arizona near the Mexico border with a new, taller barrier and an access road for federal border agents to patrol the area.

Coast Guard has seized more than 100,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since launching Operation Pacific Viper in early August, averaging over 1,600 pounds interdicted daily.

Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton was indicted for allegedly mishandling classified information by sharing diary entries about his time in the White House with family members.

DEFENSE POLITICS

President Trump plans to build a privately funded triumphal arch, so-called “Arc de Trump,” marking the latest effort in his bid to remake Washington, DC in his own style.

Air Force Academy alumni board to vote on honoring Charlie Kirk a conservative activist killed last month while hosting a debate at a Utah college, with honorary membership in the academy’s alumni association.

Admiral heading U.S. Southern Command, which is overseeing the Trump administration’s ongoing military strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean, will retire just over one year into his tenure.

Nearly 30 Republican veterans and reservists serving in the House are calling on Senate Democrats to accept a short-term spending bill to end the government shutdown, citing concerns over troop pay and military readiness.

US POWER OVERSEAS

10,000 U.S. forces now supporting counternarcotics operations in Caribbean.

U.S. military carried out a new strike against a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean, and in what is believed to be the first such case, there were survivors among the crew.

World’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), has been conducting night flight operations in the Mediterranean Sea as part of its ongoing deployment with Carrier Strike Group 12.

Philippine, U.S., Japanese, Canadian and French forces held surface warfare drills in the South China Sea this week in Manila’s latest multilateral naval exercise.

U.S. Army medical and public affairs personnel on a recent week-long exchange with Angolan service members set out to use translator tech to bridge one rather significant gap capable of making or breaking operations between allied nations: language.

RUSSIA THREAT

Trump is redoubling his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, announcing a second meeting with Vladimir Putin in Hungary one day before sitting down with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.

GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he plans to move ahead with a bill to impose sanctions on Russia that has overwhelming bipartisan support, saying the “time has come.”

Russia is arming drones with North Korean cluster weapons. Though Pyongyang has largely pulled its soldiers off the front lines in Ukraine, it is expanding the types of ammunition it supplies to Moscow.

MIDDLE EAST THREATS

Syrian government and the main Kurdish-led force in the country’s northeast have agreed in principle on a plan to merge the U.S.-backed force as a cohesive group into the national army.

Yemen’s Houthis say one of the most senior military officials, its military chief of staff, was killed as Israel claims responsibility.

SPACE DOMAIN

Innovative Rocket Technologies’ (iRocket) plans for a fully reusable satellite launcher got a boost from the first flight test of IRX-100, a short-range missile the startup hopes will generate near-term revenue to support its orbital Shockwave vehicle.

Atomic-6, a composite materials manufacturer based in Marietta, Georgia, believes it has found a lighter, more resilient alternative to traditional satellite shielding that protects spacecraft from debris impact. It is preparing to demonstrate its “Space Armor” in orbit and start producing it for the U.S. Space Force and other organizations.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

U.S. and the Netherlands signed a pact today for the European nation to participate in the development of the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone wingman program.

Libya will be incorporated into U.S. Africa Command’s flagship special operations exercise next year, the latest U.S. military overture to the war-torn country whose strongman leader lost power in 2011 after NATO bombing.

A ‘shadow army’ is helping Uganda’s long-serving president, and his ever-growing family dynasty, keep an iron grip on power.

US ARMY SPECIAL REPORT

Over the next two years, Army will convert 25 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams into new formations known as Mobile Brigade Combat Teams as part of the service’s “Transforming in Contact” initiative.

Lockheed Martin is among those to have gotten the go-ahead to move forward in a competition to design a second interceptor for the U.S. Army’s middle-tier Enduring Shield air defense system.

While both Ukraine and Russia have sustained large amounts of helicopter losses due to dense traditional frontline air defenses, not everything that happens in Ukraine applies to the U.S. Army and it’s critical to only learn the right lessons.

U.S. Army ‘absolutely needs’ drones like Russia’s long-range, expendable, relatively simple, comparatively very cheap and adaptable Shahed-136, says 25th Infantry Division commander.

Army ‘on a path’ to meeting Hegseth’s ambitious drone goals, looking to buy drones “Amazon-style” and juice its organic industrial base to meet leadership directives for growing the military’s unmanned aerial systems arsenal.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.