United States Vice President JD Vance warned today of the tough task ahead in disarming Hamas and building a peaceful future for Gaza, as Washington sought to reassure its ally Israel over the next steps in its ambitious ceasefire deal.
Vance met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the second day of a trip to Israel, part of a diplomatic blitz in support of the US-brokered plan to end the fighting, recover hostages and, eventually, rebuild the devastated Palestinian territory, reports AFP.
“We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza, to make life better for the people of Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel,” Vance said.
Vance had kicked off the three-day visit yesterday by opening the Civil-Military Coordination Centre in southwest Israel, where US and allied troops will work with Israeli forces to monitor the truce and to oversee aid to Gaza.
Turkish troops?
“A lot of our Israeli friends working together with a lot of Americans to actually mediate this entire ceasefire process, to get some of the critical infrastructure off the ground, ” Vance said, after talks with Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
Vance cited an “international security force” as one of the bodies that would have to be set up. Under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, this military mission would keep the peace in Gaza as Israel withdraws.
Several US allies are considering joining the force, but no American troops would be on the ground inside Gaza, instead coordinating from the CMCC in Kiryat Gat, Israel.
Reports that Israel’s outspoken critic and regional rival Turkey could provide troops have rattled Israeli opinion.
Netanyahu said decisions on the new security force would be made in discussion with the United States, but on Turkey’s role he said: “I have very strong opinions about that. You want to guess what they are?”
‘Great optimism’
Despite an eruption of violence on Sunday, when two soldiers were killed and Israel responded with a deadly wave of air strikes, Vance expressed “great optimism” that the ceasefire would hold and the plan to end the war proceed.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara welcomed Vance and the US Second Lady Usha Vance to his office and the couples sat down for breakfast, followed by a working meeting and a televised news conference.
The Israeli leader, who has been criticised by some domestic opponents for accepting the US-backed ceasefire before Hamas was fully destroyed and before all the remains of deceased hostages are returned, defended the deal.
“We’ve been able to do two things. Put the knife up to Hamas’s throat. That was the military effort guided by Israel,” he said, thanking Trump for his diplomatic efforts in the broader Middle East, smoothing relations with Israel’s neighbours.
“And the other effort was to isolate Hamas and the Arab and Muslim world, which I think the president did brilliantly with his team. So those two things produced the hostages,” Netanyahu said.
Vance also championed the Gaza deal’s role as a “critical piece in unlocking the Abraham Accords” — a Trump administration plan to build relations between Israel and its former foes in the Arab world.
‘Very, very fragile’
Israel responded to its soldiers’ deaths on Sunday with an intense wave of bombings that the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry said killed 45 Palestinians. Hamas denies any role in the killings.