US Vice President JD Vance has arrived in Israel as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to strengthen the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
He is expected to push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin talks on long-term issues aimed at achieving a permanent end to the war with Hamas, the BBC reported.
Two special US envoys who helped negotiate the deal, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, also held talks with Netanyahu on Monday.
Their visits come after a flare-up of violence on Sunday that threatened to derail the 12-day-old truce. Israel said a Hamas attack killed two soldiers, prompting Israeli air strikes that killed dozens of Palestinians.
President Donald Trump insisted on Monday that the ceasefire remained on track but warned Hamas that it would be “eradicated” if it violated the deal.
That next phase calls for an interim Palestinian government, the deployment of an international stabilization force, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the disarmament of Hamas.
Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner are also working to ensure the ceasefire — which forms the first phase of the plan — does not collapse.
According to The New York Times, US officials are concerned Netanyahu may “vacate” the deal and resume an all-out offensive against Hamas.
Netanyahu told Israel’s parliament on Monday that he would discuss “security challenges” and “political opportunities” with Vance during his visit.
He said Israeli forces had dropped 153 tons of bombs on Gaza in response to what he called a “blatant” ceasefire violation by Hamas on Sunday.
“One of our hands holds a weapon, the other hand is stretched out for peace,” Netanyahu said. “You make peace with the strong, not the weak. Today, Israel is stronger than ever before.”
The Israeli military blamed Hamas for an anti-tank missile attack on Sunday that killed two soldiers in southern Gaza.
Israel then carried out dozens of strikes across the territory, which hospitals said killed at least 45 Palestinians.
After the strikes, Israel said it was resuming enforcement of the ceasefire, while Hamas said it remained committed to the agreement.
Reports from Gaza said four Palestinians were killed on Monday by Israeli fire east of Gaza City.
The Israeli military said troops fired toward “terrorists” who crossed the agreed-upon ceasefire line in the Shejaiya area.
Later Monday, Trump told reporters at the White House that Hamas had promised to honor the truce.
“We made a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very good,” he said. “They’re going to behave. They’re going to be nice.”
“If they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them, if we have to,” he added. “They’ll be eradicated, and they know that.”
Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, speaking in Cairo, said his group remained committed to the ceasefire and “determined to fully implement it until the end.”
“What we heard from the mediators and the US president reassures us that the war in Gaza is over,” Hayya told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News TV.
He said Hamas was working to hand over the bodies of all deceased hostages despite “extreme difficulty” recovering them from rubble.
Overnight, Israeli officials confirmed Hamas had handed the body of another Israeli hostage to the Red Cross in Gaza.
The remains were identified as those of Tal Haimi, 41, killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
That means 13 of the 28 hostages’ bodies held in Gaza when the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10 have been returned.
Twenty living Israeli hostages were also released last week in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli jails.
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Since then, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 68,216 people, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
