The White House Informed Netanyahu That the Assassination of Raed Saad Violates the Gaza Ceasefire

An Israeli channel said on Monday that the White House informed the occupation government’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the assassination of Hamas leader Raed Saad constitutes a violation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

On Saturday, the occupation army carried out a raid on a vehicle west of Gaza City, resulting in the martyrdom of 4 Palestinians, and the army stated in its announcement that among them was Saad, the commander of the manufacturing wing in the Qassam Brigades, and one of the engineers of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th.

The private channel quoted American officials as saying: "The White House sent strong messages to Netanyahu over the past two days, stating that the assassination of the prominent Hamas leader Raed Saad in Gaza was a violation of the agreement reached to end the war through the mediation of US President Donald Trump."

The two officials, unnamed by the channel, said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump's advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner "are deeply frustrated with Netanyahu and his decisions."

The channel noted that "the angry message from the White House came amid escalating tensions between the Trump administration and Netanyahu's government regarding the next phase of the agreement to end the war in Gaza and Israel's policy in the region in general."

American officials say that "the Israeli government did not inform the United States in advance of its intention to assassinate Saad and did not consult with the White House on this matter in advance," according to the channel.

An American official told the channel: "The White House expressed its anger over the attack and clarified to Netanyahu that it constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement."

The official added: "The White House's message to Netanyahu was: If you want to destroy your reputation and show your lack of commitment to agreements, do as you wish, but we will not allow you to destroy President Trump's reputation after his success in reaching an agreement in Gaza."

The channel confirmed the escalation of tensions between Netanyahu and the Trump administration due to the occupation's policy in Gaza, just two weeks before an upcoming meeting between Netanyahu and the American president at Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

It pointed out that the tensions surrounding the assassination of Raed Saad "are just the latest episode in a series of disputes between the White House and Netanyahu's government in recent weeks."

The channel indicated that "the White House sees Netanyahu acting shortsightedly on many issues related to the implementation of the agreement in Gaza, especially regarding the transition to the second phase, which includes additional Israeli withdrawal."

The channel said that "the White House has been focusing in recent weeks on strengthening the ceasefire, reducing tensions in the region, and transitioning from the Gaza war to rebuilding relations between Israel and the Arab world, and expanding normalization agreements."

However, high-level American officials say they "have faced significant distrust towards Netanyahu in the region, and strong opposition in many Arab countries to cooperating with him," according to the same source.