KIRYAT GAT, Israel (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance and other envoys projected optimism Tuesday about Gaza ‘s fragile ceasefire agreement, calling progress better than anticipated as they visited a new center in Israel for civilian and military cooperation.
Vance noted flareups of violence in recent days but said the ceasefire is going “better than I expected” after two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Envoy Steve Witkoff added that “we are exceeding where we thought we would be at this time.”
They are in Israel as questions remain over the long-term plan for peace, such as whether Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza.
Vance tried to downplay any idea that his visit was urgently arranged to keep the ceasefire in place. “My visit had nothing to do with the events of the past 48 hours,” he said. This is his first visit to Israel as vice president.
Vance was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials and is expected to stay in the region until Thursday.
Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and one of the architects of the ceasefire agreement, noted its complexity: “Both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense warfare to now a peacetime posture.”
Vance said he feels “confident that we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts,” but warned that if Hamas doesn’t cooperate, it will be “obliterated.”
Hamas says remains of 2 more hostages recovered
Hamas said it had recovered the remains of two more hostages and planned to hand them over Tuesday evening.
Vance urged a ‘little bit of patience’ amid Israeli frustration with Hamas’ pace of the returns.
“Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are,” Vance said. “It’s just a reason to counsel in favor of a little bit of patience.”
He added that “a lot of this work is very hard” as he faced questions over next steps, and he urged flexibility.
Vance emphasized that U.S. troops would not be on the ground in Gaza, and said that “we’re in the phase now where we’re actually starting to conceptualize what that international security force would look like” for the territory.
The ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. While it has been tested by Sunday’s fighting and mutual accusations of violations, both Israel and Hamas have said they are committed to the deal. Trump has made clear he wants it to succeed.
The head of Egypt’s intelligence agency, Maj. Gen. Hassan Rashad, traveled to Israel on Tuesday to meet with Netanyahu, Witkoff and others over the ceasefire’s implementation, according to Netanyahu’s office.
Hamas negotiators reiterated that the group is committed to ensuring the war “ends once and for all.”
Israel identifies another body of a hostage
Israel confirmed that Palestinian militants had released the body of Tal Haimi, who was killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. He was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. The 42-year-old was part of its emergency response team and had four children, including one born after the attack.
