Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday for talks with the country’s leadership. The visit comes as the U.S. attempts to reinforce the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The visit comes less than two weeks after the truce deal took effect. It falls under a peace framework President Donald Trump helped broker earlier this month. But one phase of that deal – which required Hamas to return all hostages and Israel to pull back troops – has already shown signs of strain.
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Vance is visiting the country alongside Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Both were already in Israel to monitor the truce. Analysts told The New York Times that their visit is intended to send a warning to both Israel and Hamas not to undermine the deal.
Ceasefire under strain
Hamas has returned 20 living hostages but not all of the bodies of those killed. The group says many of the remains are trapped beneath the rubble in Gaza.
On Tuesday, senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya told Egyptian state television that the group is “serious about handing over all of the bodies, as stipulated by the deal.”
Amid the tension over hostages, there’s also still violence going on in the region. On Sunday, Palestinian militants fired on Israeli soldiers, killing two. Israel responded with a wave of strikes that left 45 Palestinians dead.
Following the strikes, Israel said it had begun the “renewed enforcement of the ceasefire.”
Israeli forces have also fired on Palestinians accused of crossing the demarcation line. Israel called them militants, and Gaza officials said the dead included civilians and children.
Vance to meet with Netanyahu
During his visit, Vance is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss both the challenges and next steps in maintaining the truce.
“We will talk about two things, mainly the security challenges and the diplomatic opportunities we face,” Netanyahu said. “We will overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities.”
Next steps for the peace deal
With phase one of the peace deal implemented, the Trump administration hopes to move into phase two, focused on recovering bodies, rebuilding Gaza, and persuading Hamas to disarm in exchange for international oversight of security.
Hamas, however, has so far resisted calls to lay down its weapons.
