US Vice President JD Vance has voiced “great optimism” that the Gaza truce will endure, as he prepares to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday in Jerusalem.
Vance is visiting Israel to reinforce the US-brokered ceasefire and post-war rebuilding initiatives. Despite Israeli concerns that Hamas is using the ceasefire to regroup, he stated that Washington would not impose a deadline for Hamas to disarm under the current agreement.
His remarks followed President Donald Trump’s warning that allied nations in the Middle East were ready to invade Gaza to eliminate Hamas if it violated the truce.
“What we’ve seen the past week gives me great optimism that the ceasefire is going to hold,” Vance said during a press conference in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, where a US-led mission is monitoring the ceasefire.
He added, “I think that everybody should be proud of where we are today. It’s going to require constant effort. It’s going to require constant monitoring and supervision.”
Vance’s trip comes amid tensions over the ceasefire’s implementation. Hamas claims it needs more time and support to locate the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages trapped under Gaza’s rubble. The truce was shaken by Sunday’s violence, which saw two Israeli soldiers killed, prompting retaliatory airstrikes.
Before Vance’s visit, Trump had warned that “our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East” were willing to enter Gaza “with a heavy force” if Hamas continued its defiance.
During the launch of a joint US-Israeli Civil-Military Coordination Centre, Vance downplayed Israeli calls for a strict disarmament timeline, saying, “I’m not going to do what the president of the United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult.”
He confirmed that no US troops would be deployed to Gaza but noted America’s commitment to “useful coordination.”
While the truce excludes any future role for Hamas in Gaza, the group has resisted disarmament and reportedly reasserted control in some areas. Israel has accused Hamas of violating the agreement, but Hamas insists it remains committed.
Hamas’s Gaza leader, Khalil al-Hayya, currently in Cairo for talks with Egypt and Qatar, expressed confidence that “the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has ended.”
The conflict, which began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,221 people, has since claimed at least 68,229 lives in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
What You Should Know
JD Vance’s visit to Israel marks a pivotal moment in the fragile Gaza ceasefire negotiations. Acting as President Trump’s envoy, he is tasked with ensuring the truce holds while navigating tensions between Israel and Hamas.
The ceasefire, though effective so far, remains vulnerable amid sporadic violence and disagreements over disarmament. Vance’s optimism reflects Washington’s commitment to stabilizing the region without deploying US troops.
His meeting with Netanyahu is expected to influence the next phase of US-Israeli cooperation in Gaza’s reconstruction and regional peace efforts, making it one of the most closely watched diplomatic engagements of 2025.
