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 cease-fire deal in Gaza.
Israel and Hamas agreed this month to a truce in their two-year war, based on parts of a plan outlined by President Trump. On Oct. 13, the Palestinian armed group handed over the 20 living 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 cease-fire is already under strain as Mr. Vance lands for his trip to Israel, which is set to last until Thursday. Analysts said that the visit was intended to send a warning to both Israel and Hamas not to undermine the truce.
Mr. Vance joins Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Mideast envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, both of whom were already in Israel to monitor the truce. The two were instrumental in brokering the deal, alongside Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators.
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.
For now, both Israel and Hamas say they are committed to the cease-fire, 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 left a total of 45 Palestinians dead, 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Israeli forces have also attacked Palestinians they said crossed a demarcation line where Israeli military forces have withdrawn to inside Gaza.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 on Monday to the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, Mr. Netanyahu offered few details about what he expected to discuss with Mr. Vance.
“We will talk about two things, mainly the security challenges and the diplomatic opportunities we face,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “We will overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities.”
Mr. Trump and his mediators hope to build on the cease-fire to realize an ambitious postwar vision for Gaza, in which Hamas fighters would lay down their weapons, an international force would take charge of security and an independent Palestinian administration would eventually assume control.
Hamas has expressed serious reservations about that plan, especially about disarming its fighters. And both sides have yet to carry out significant parts of the initial cease-fire agreement, much less reach a broader deal on Gaza’s future.
The bodies of about 15 hostages, which Hamas is obligated to return to Israel under the cease-fire deal, are still in Gaza. Hamas officials have said that they are doing the best they can, but that the sheer devastation left by two years of war has made it difficult to recover the bodies.
“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 morning.
Hamas has handed over the bodies of at least 13 people to Israel, and Israel has returned the bodies of more than 100 Palestinians in exchange. But Mr. al-Hayya 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 Mr. 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, who Israeli officials later identified as Tal Haimi. Mr. Haimi, 41, a resident of kibbutz Nir Yitzhak near the Gaza border, was killed during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war.
The attack killed about 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken back to Gaza as hostages, mostly civilians, according to the Israeli authorities. In response, Israel launched a devastating campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 68,000 people, including thousands of children, according to local health officials.
Tyler Pager contributed reporting.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
The post Vance Lands in Israel as U.S. Tries to Shore Up Gaza Truce appeared first on New York Times.
