Vance arrives in Israel as US tries to strengthen Gaza ceasefire

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to strengthen the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

He is expected to push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin negotiations on long-term issues to permanently end the war with Hamas.

Two special US envoys who helped negotiate the deal, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, also held talks with Netanyahu on Monday.

Their visit came after violence on Sunday threatened to disrupt a 12-day ceasefire. Israel said the Hamas attack killed two soldiers, triggering Israeli airstrikes that killed dozens of Palestinians.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the ceasefire was still on track, but also warned Hamas that the ceasefire would be “dismantled” if it violated the agreement.

Trump is said to have sent his aide and envoys to Israel to maintain momentum and press for the start of negotiations on the critical second phase of the 20-point Gaza peace plan.

This would include the establishment of an interim government in the Palestinian territories, the deployment of an international stabilization force, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the disarmament of Hamas.

Israel had previously announced that it would not participate in such talks until it returned all the dead hostages held by Hamas.

Vance, Witkoff and Kushner are also trying to ensure that the ceasefire agreement on which the first phase of the peace plan is based does not collapse before then.

The New York Times reported that US officials said they were concerned that the Israeli prime minister could “negate” the agreement. and we will relaunch the all-out offensive against Hamas.

Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament on Monday that he would discuss “security issues” and “political opportunities” with Vance during his visit.

He also said Israeli forces dropped 153 tons of bombs on Gaza on Sunday in response to Hamas’ “blatant” violation of the ceasefire.

“One hand holds a gun, the other hand reaches out for peace,” he said. “You make peace with the strong, not with the weak. Today, Israel is stronger than ever.”

The Israeli military blamed Hamas for an anti-tank missile attack that killed two Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza on Sunday, and then carried out dozens of attacks across the region, killing at least 45 Palestinians, hospitals said.

Later, the Israeli army announced that it would begin to re-enforce the ceasefire, while Hamas said that it remained committed to the agreement.

However, on Monday, it was reported that four Palestinians were killed as a result of Israeli fire in the east of Gaza City. The Israeli army said its soldiers opened fire on “terrorists” who crossed the “Yellow Line” bordering territory still occupied by Israeli forces.

Trump later told reporters at the White House: “We made a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very nice. They’re going to behave. They’re going to behave.”

“If not, we will go and if necessary, we will destroy them. They will be destroyed and they know it,” he added.

Meanwhile, Hamas’ chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, who is in Cairo, stressed that his group and other Palestinian groups are committed to the ceasefire agreement and are “determined to fully implement it to the end.”

“What we heard from the mediators and the US president reassures us that the war in Gaza is over,” he told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News TV.

Hayya also said Hamas was serious about handing over the bodies of all deceased hostages still in Gaza, despite facing what he called “extreme difficulty” in rescue efforts from the rubble due to a lack of specialist equipment.

Israeli officials confirmed that Hamas handed over the body of another deceased Israeli hostage to the Red Cross in Gaza overnight.

The remains were identified as those of 41-year-old Tal Haimi, who the Israeli army said was killed on Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 that triggered the war.

This means that 13 of the 28 hostages held in Gaza when the ceasefire came into force on October 10 have been returned so far.

Last week, 20 living Israeli hostages were also released in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons.

Hamas has not yet returned all dead hostages, sparking outrage in Israel; The Israeli prime minister’s office said the group “must fulfill its commitments.”

Meanwhile, the UN’s World Food Program has stressed that maintaining the ceasefire is “vital” to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid to the region.

Since the ceasefire came into force, 530 WFP trucks have crossed into Gaza with more than 6,700 tonnes of food. This amount is enough to feed about 500,000 people for two weeks, spokesman Abeer Atefa said at a briefing in Geneva.

However, the official said that the agency could not reach its daily target of 2,000 tons of supplies because not all crossings to the region were open.

He added that only two crossing points – Kerem Shalom and Kissufim – were not functional, and both were located in the north, where the food situation was “extremely dire”.

Some special nutritional supplements for children and pregnant women were distributed to the north via the south, but large-scale deliveries were not possible.

Ms Atefa said WFP supplies were not being looted in the south of the region, where people now have access to food in safety and dignity.

But he added that many people often use up a small portion of their supplies and ration the rest because they are so anxious about the future and fearful that deliveries will be blocked again.

Israel, which controls aid access to Gaza, temporarily halted deliveries in response to Sunday’s violence. After intense international pressure, deliveries resumed on Monday.

Israel launched a military operation in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas-led gunmen killed approximately 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.

At least 68,216 people have been killed in Israeli offensives in Gaza since then, according to the region’s Hamas-run health ministry.