Vice President JD Vance landed in Israel Tuesday morning to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and push for a Gaza deal implementation. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner joined Vance to reinforce the truce.
Israeli officials say his visit comes amid efforts to keep the deal intact and continue pushing for the remaining phases of the agreement.
“The best case scenario, meaning if this thing absolutely produces that sustainable long term piece that the president and I hope that it will,” Vance added “They’re going to be fits and starts.”
The visit comes as Israel-Hamas clashes continue, with airstrikes on Sunday killing two Israeli soldiers and roughly 45 people in Gaza. Israel and Hamas blame each other for violating the truce first but both say they are still committed to it. Meanwhile, Netanyahu briefly closed off any humanitarian aid to Gaza before quickly restoring it.
The Trump administration says their strategy is to try and keep Netanyahu from launching a full assault on Gaza to try to stop Hamas.
One plan involves Witkoff and Kushner developing a stabilization force led by Egypt, but no timelines have been set.
The entire deal remains fragile, with tensions rising as Israel says Hamas is delaying the return of hostages’ bodies. So far, the remains of 13 out of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel.
Hamas said in a statement that mediators have to finish their part of the agreement, including humanitarian aid, opening the crossing from Egypt to Gaza, and rebuilding Gaza.
U.S officials say they want to lock in a cease-fire with Israel and possibly start with rebuilding Rafah, the border with Egypt, as a way to move forward.
