During visit to Israel, Vance voices optimism about preserving Gaza ceasefire
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Vice President JD Vance after a military briefing at the Civilian Military Coordination Center in southern Israel on Oct. 21. Photo: Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images
Vice President JD Vance, who is visiting Israel, said on Tuesday that he is optimistic the Gaza ceasefire would hold, but stressed it required "constant monitoring and supervision" by the U.S. and its allies.
Why it matters: Vance's trip is part of an air train of U.S. officials arriving in Israel to work on stabilizing the fragile ceasefire, which has been the Trump administration's biggest diplomatic breakthrough so far.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also planning to visit Israel later this week or over the weekend to work on the implementation of the Gaza deal, U.S. and Israeli officials say.
- The State Department didn't respond to a request for a comment.
Driving the news: Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday, and after a briefing from Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, he traveled to the U.S. command center that oversees the implementation of the Gaza agreement.
- At the command center, Vance was briefed by CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper and other military officials about the situation in Gaza.
- At a press conference there, Vance stressed regardless of the incidents and clashes on the ground, the ceasefire is holding.
- "It is exactly how it is going to have to happen, when you have people who hate each other and who have been fighting against each other for a very long time. We are doing well. We are in a very good place," he said.
- Vance also said the U.S. is not going to force Israel to accept foreign troops in Gaza against its will and that there is no firm deadline for Hamas to give up its weapons.
State of play: Vance is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss the implementation of the agreement.
- A U.S. official said the Trump administration thinks that both Israel and Hamas want to preserve the ceasefire and implement the deal, but the situation on the ground is still very unstable.
- On Tuesday, Hamas returned to Israel another two bodies of dead hostages, bringing the number of bodies recovered to 15. The bodies of another 13 hostages are still held in Gaza.
- In addition to the stabilization of the ceasefire and the return of the remaining bodies, there are a set of issues the U.S. will have to push for, like the establishment of an international stabilization force, the disarming of Hamas, and the formation of a new government in Gaza.
- "We will have to work in the next 30 days very quickly and very creatively to prevent the deal from collapsing," the U.S. official said.
