Vice President JD Vance asserted on Wednesday that the recent influx of high-level American officials visiting Israel serves a critical purpose: to oversee the delicate cease-fire agreement in Gaza. He explicitly stated that this oversight is not about ‘monitoring a toddler,’ but rather a serious commitment to ensuring the peace holds.
Vance’s comments followed a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. This trip comes shortly after President Trump’s own visit to the country just a week prior. Other key American figures, including Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, have also been in Israel recently, highlighting the administration’s focused attention on the region.
Elaborating on the nature of the U.S. engagement, Vance explained that their efforts to safeguard the cease-fire are not merely supervisory. ‘It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work, a lot of good people who are doing that work, and it’s important for the principals in the administration to keep on ensuring that our people are doing what we need them to do,’ he stated, emphasizing a proactive, supportive role.
This month, Israel and Hamas reached a truce in their two-year conflict, building on elements of a proposal put forth by President Trump in September.
However, the cease-fire has experienced significant strain over recent days, marked by repeated outbreaks of violence in Gaza.
Sources within the Trump administration, speaking anonymously due to the private nature of these discussions, revealed concerns that Prime Minister Netanyahu might be considering withdrawing from the agreement. The current U.S. strategy involves Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner working to prevent Netanyahu from initiating a full-scale offensive against Hamas.
Several challenging issues remain unresolved in implementing the next phase of the cease-fire, including how officials plan to convince Hamas to disarm.
Netanyahu has consistently maintained that the militant group must surrender its weapons for the war to conclude. However, Hamas views this demand as a direct call for capitulation, considering armed resistance against Israel a fundamental aspect of its core ideology.
When pressed on how Hamas would be persuaded to disarm, Vance remained tight-lipped, simply stating, ‘We’re going to keep working on it.’
Another crucial point of contention is the role the United States and its allies envision for the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the idea of the Authority controlling postwar Gaza.
On Wednesday, two senior Palestinian Authority leaders, Hussein al-Sheikh, the vice president, and Majed Faraj, the intelligence chief, were expected to travel to Cairo. There, they plan to hold meetings with Egyptian officials to discuss the future of Gaza after the conflict, according to a spokesperson for al-Sheikh.
The initial stage of the cease-fire agreement saw the release of 20 hostages held in Gaza last week. In exchange, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Since then, Hamas has returned the remains of at least 15 individuals to Israel, and Israel has returned the bodies of over 150 Palestinians to Gaza.
Despite the challenges, Vance expressed optimism on Wednesday that the truce would endure.
“I think that we have an opportunity to do something really historic, so we’re going to keep working at it with all of our friends in the Israeli government,” he affirmed.