United States Vice President J.D. Vance affirmed on Tuesday that the implementation of the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire remains “in a very good place.”
Vance made these assertions even as a weekend explosion of violence threatened to derail the week-old Gaza ceasefire truce.
Vance’s remarks came during his high-stakes visit to Israel. The U.S Vice President landed in Israel to meet with high-level officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following a Sunday flare-up where a Palestinian attack killed two Israeli soldiers, prompting an immediate Israeli bombardment in Gaza that killed at least 28 people.
Speaking to reporters, Vance acknowledged the challenges but maintained optimism. “We are doing very well when it comes to getting the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas implemented,” he said, noting that his visit underscores the commitment to the deal.
He emphasized that U.S. and Israeli teams are working “hand in hand” to begin the plan to rebuild Gaza and implement a long-term peace, signaling that the focus remains firmly on making the Gaza ceasefire work.
He continued: “The past week has given me great optimism. There will be moments where it looks like things aren’t going well and it will require mediation, supervision, and monitoring.
“Right now, I feel very optimistic,” he says, as the ceasefire is “in a very good place”.
“Can I say with 100% certainty that it’s going to work, no,” he adds. But you don’t do difficult things by only doing what’s 100% certain – you do them by trying, he tells the news conference.
Vance also added that it’s a “focus” to get the bodies back to their families so a proper burial can take place.
But he said, “This is difficult, this is not going to happen overnight”.
He explained that some of the hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble, while the whereabouts of others is completely unknown.
“Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are,” Mr Vance said. “It’s just a reason to counsel in favour of a little bit of patience.”
Vance disclosed that it doesn’t mean the work to recover them will stop, or that there’s a lack of confidence in finding the remains, but he stresses there needs to be patience: “This is going to take a little bit of time.”
In his concluding remarks, the U.S Vice President asked Christians to pray for peace.
He said he plans to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was crucified.
“Christians have many titles for Jesus Christ, and one of them is the Prince of Peace,” Vance says.
“I ask all people of faith, in particular my fellow Christians, to pray that the Prince of Peace can continue to work a miracle in this region of the world.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the Gaza ceasefire took effect on October 10. While it has been tested by Sunday’s fighting and mutual accusations of violations, both Israel and Hamas have said they are committed to the deal.
Hamas negotiators reiterated that the group is committed to ensuring the war “ends once and for all”.
“From the day we signed the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement, we were determined and committed to seeing it through to the end,” Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, who is in Cairo, told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News.
Israel confirmed that Palestinian militants had released the body of Tal Haimi, who was killed in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, that ignited the war.
He was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. The 42-year-old was part of its emergency response team and had four children, including one born after the attack.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel is waiting for Hamas to turn over the remains of 15 hostages. Thirteen others have been turned over.
Under the deal, Israel is releasing 15 Palestinian bodies for the remains of each dead hostage, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. It said Israel had transferred another 15 on Tuesday, for a total of 165 since earlier this month.
International organisations said they were scaling up humanitarian aid entering Gaza, while Hamas-led security forces launched a crackdown against what it called price gouging by private merchants.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said it had sent more than 530 trucks into Gaza in the past 10 days, enough to feed nearly half a million people for two weeks. That is still well under the 500 to 600 that entered daily before the war.
The WFP also said it had reinstated 26 distribution points and hopes to scale up to its previous 145 points across Gaza as soon as possible.
Residents said prices for essential goods soared on Sunday after militants killed two Israeli soldiers and Israel responded with strikes that killed dozens of Palestinians. Israel also threatened to halt humanitarian aid.
On Monday, Hamas said its security forces raided shops across Gaza, closing at least 10 shops and warehouses, and forcing merchants to lower prices. Hamas has also imposed more order, allowing aid trucks to move safely and halting the looting of deliveries.
In the initial 2023 attack on Israel, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people as hostages.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
