JD Vance visits Israel as US tries to shore up Gaza truce

Jerusalem: Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday for meetings with the country's leaders, as the Trump administration rushes to shore up the hard-won, fragile ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Hamas agreed this month to a truce in their two-year war, a deal based on parts of a plan outlined by President Donald Trump. On Oct. 13, the Palestinian armed group handed over the 20 Israeli hostages it was still holding in Gaza, while Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange.

Though less than two weeks old, the ceasefire is already under strain. Analysts said Vance's trip to Israel, which is set to last until Thursday, was intended to send a warning to both Israel and Hamas not to undermine the truce.

After landing in Israel, the vice president joined Steve Witkoff, Trump's Mideast envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, for a nearly two-hour lunch at Ben Gurion Airport. Witkoff and Kushner were instrumental in brokering the ceasefire deal, alongside Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators.

Vance later traveled south to the city of Kiryat Gat for private briefings at a civil-military coordination center that hosts U.S. personnel monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire.

Several Trump officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, told The New York Times on Monday that there was concern within the administration that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel may vacate the U.S.-backed deal.

On Tuesday, Trump said that if Hamas were to violate the agreement, a number of unnamed U.S. allies in the Middle East would "welcome the opportunity" to respond to the militant group with "heavy force."

"There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right," Trump wrote on social media.

For now, both Israel and Hamas say they are committed to the ceasefire, despite repeated flare-ups of violence in recent days.

On Sunday, Palestinian militants fired on Israeli soldiers in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, killing two. In response, Israel launched a wave of strikes that killed 45 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The violence was short-lived, but analysts have warned that the truce is likely to be tested again.

Israeli forces have also attacked Palestinians they said crossed a demarcation line where Israeli military forces have withdrawn to inside Gaza. The Israeli military said some were militants, but on Saturday, Gaza officials said a number of civilians, including several children, had been killed.

In a speech Monday to Israel's parliament, Netanyahu was vague about what he expected to discuss with Vance.

"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."

On Tuesday, Netanyahu's office said he met with Egypt's intelligence chief, Gen. Hassan Rashad, to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and other regional issues.

Trump and his mediators hope to build on the ceasefire to realize an ambitious postwar vision for Gaza that would see Hamas fighters lay down their weapons, an international force take charge of security and an independent Palestinian administration eventually assume control.

Hamas has expressed serious reservations about that plan, especially about disarming its fighters. And both sides have yet to meet significant parts of the initial ceasefire agreement, much less reach a broader deal on Gaza's future.

Hamas has returned the bodies of at least 13 people to Israel, and Israel has returned the bodies of more than 100 Palestinians to Gaza. On Tuesday, Hamas said it planned to return two more bodies to Israel at 9 p.m. local time.

But the bodies of about 15 hostages, which Hamas is obligated to return to Israel under the ceasefire deal, remain in Gaza. Hamas officials have said they are doing the best they can, but that recovering the bodies was challenging.

"We are serious about handing over all of the bodies, as stipulated by the deal," Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader, told Egyptian state television early Tuesday.

He said Hamas was facing "enormous difficulty" in excavating some of the remains because of the "changed landscape" in Gaza, where vast swathes of cities have been reduced to rubble during the war.

Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, have accused Hamas of violating the deal by not immediately returning more hostages' remains. Israel has retaliated by keeping the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed until further notice.

On Monday night, Hamas handed over the body of one of the remaining hostages, whom Israeli officials later identified as Tal Haimi. Haimi, 41, was killed during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war.

In exchange, Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Red Cross.

The October 2023 attack killed about 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken back to Gaza as hostages, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities. In response, Israel launched a devastating campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 68,000 people, according to local health officials.