JD Vance arrives in Israel in effort to bolster Gaza ceasefire

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US Vice President J.D. Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday in an attempt by senior US officials to maintain a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza that has begun to weaken amid violence and mutual accusations.

Vance arrived a day after Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, also traveled to the country.

The visits came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered widespread air strikes and temporarily blocked aid from reaching Gaza over the weekend, saying it was a response to a Hamas attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.

Israeli media reported that the escalation ended after pressure from Witkopf and Kushner, who played a key role in brokering the agreement, which was supported by the United States.

Vance was expected to meet with Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister also met with the head of Egyptian intelligence on Tuesday, according to his office.

Under the terms of Trump’s peace plan, Hamas released the last of the 20 Israeli hostages taken during its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which led to the two-year war in Gaza.

Israel, in turn, released 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and withdrew its forces from about half of the Gaza Strip. It is also required that the United Nations be allowed to transport large quantities of food and medicine into the torn enclave.

While Hamas has so far released the bodies of 13 dead hostages, it says it needs more time to recover the remains of 15 others still buried under the rubble, sparking angry reactions from far-right Israeli politicians opposed to the ceasefire.

However, Vance’s visit comes as the two sides prepare to negotiate the next phase of the deal, which is expected to be significantly more difficult.

Under the terms of Trump’s peace plan, Hamas is expected to disarm and a foreign stabilization force will assume security as Israeli forces withdraw to a smaller buffer zone, bringing an end to hostilities.

The agreement also calls for reconstruction to begin under the supervision of an international and Palestinian governing body, which has not yet been formed.

Chief Hamas negotiator and de facto leader Khalil al-Hayya said on Tuesday that the movement is committed to the ceasefire and is acting under American, Qatari and Egyptian assurances that the two-year-old conflict has already ended.

He said in a statement through Hamas’ official social media channels: “What we heard from the mediators and the American President confirms to us that the war in Gaza is over.”

“We are committed to recovering the bodies of all detained Israeli prisoners [but] We are facing great difficulty in recovering the bodies and we are continuing our efforts.”

Netanyahu is under pressure from members of his far-right coalition to break the ceasefire and resume the war until Hamas is destroyed.

The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that Vance’s trip was partly aimed at preventing the Israeli prime minister from resuming the conflict. An Israeli official declined to comment on this report.

Netanyahu’s government had already violated the US-backed ceasefire and resumed the conflict in March.