U.S. Vice President JD Vance was holding talks in Israel on Tuesday as Washington tries to stabilise the first, shaky, phase of the Gaza ceasefire and push Israel and Hamas towards the harder concessions asked of each side in coming talks.
Vance was speaking at the Civilian Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, where U.S. troops have been deployed to monitor the ceasefire.
"The Israeli government has been remarkably helpful in implementing Gaza plan," he said.
He also warned militant group Hamas that it wil be obliterated if it didn't cooperate adding that he feels confident that this peace will last.
He appeared to urge for calm with regards rising tensions in the recovery of deceased hostages saying that the location of some of the bodies in Gaza was unknown, and that the issue is "difficult" and would not be resolved overnight.
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeated breaches of the ceasefire since it was formally agreed eight days ago, with flashes of violence and recriminations over the pace of returning hostage bodies, bringing in aid and opening borders.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan will require much more difficult steps to which the sides have yet to fully commit, including the disarmament of Hamas and steps towards a Palestinian state.
FOCUS ON MOVING TO SECOND PHASE OF CEASEFIRE
Vance, who made has so far made no public remarks during the visit, is due to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The trip follows Monday's talks between Netanyahu and U.S. envoys Steven Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and comes as Hamas meet mediators in Cairo.
A senior Israeli official said the purpose of Vance's visit was to advance the Gaza talks to the second phase of the ceasefire.
Israel is pressing for stronger assurances on Hamas disarming - a step to which the group has so far refused to commit - said a source briefed on the matter.
Hamas' Cairo talks, led by the group's exiled leader Khalil al-Hayya, are also looking at prospects for the next phase of the truce and post-war arrangements in Gaza as well as stabilising the existing ceasefire.
The head of intelligence for key Gaza mediator Egypt met Netanyahu earlier on Tuesday to discuss advancing the ceasefire plan and other issues, Israel said. The intelligence chief, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, will later meet Witkoff, Egyptian television reported.
Underscoring the fragility of the truce, Qatar, another of the mediators, on Tuesday accused Israel of "continuous violations". It and Turkey, which has used its role to bolster its regional position, have been key interlocutors with Hamas.
FUTURE ROLE OF HAMAS?
Trump's plan called for the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian committee overseen by an international board with Hamas taking no role in governance.
A Palestinian official close to the talks said Hamas encouraged the formation of such a committee to run Gaza without any of its representatives, but with the consent of the group as well as the Palestinian Authority and other factions.
Last week, senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal told Reuters the group expected to maintain a security role on the ground in Gaza during an undefined interim period.
Hamas last week battled rival gangs on the streets in Gaza and publicly executed men it accused of having collaborated with Israel. Trump condoned the killings but the U.S. military's Middle East command urged Hamas to stop violence "without delay".
Vance was expected on Tuesday to visit the headquarters of joint forces led by the U.S. military and meant to help with Gaza stabilisation efforts.
RETURN OF BODIES AND AID DELIVERIES
Speaking to Egyptian television late on Monday, Hayya reaffirmed the group's compliance with the truce and said it would fulfil its obligations in the first phase, including returning more bodies of hostages.
"Let their (hostages) bodies return to their families, and let the bodies of our martyrs return to their families to be buried in dignity," he said.
One more body of a hostage seized by Hamas in its October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war was returned on Monday and identified by Israeli authorities. Some 15 bodies are believed to remain in Gaza, with Israel expecting about five of them to be returned soon and others requiring a slower, more complex, process of retrieval.
Israel handed back another 15 Palestinian bodies on Tuesday, local health authorities said, taking the total it has returned to Gaza to 165.
Inside the enclave on Tuesday, more aid was flowing into the enclave through two Israeli-controlled crossings, Palestinian and U.N. officials said.
However, with Gaza residents facing catastrophic conditions, aid agencies have said far more needs to be brought in.
The U.N. World Food Programme said supplies were ramping up but fell far short of its daily target of 2,000 tons, saying this was because only two crossings into Gaza were open. It said none had reached the famine-hit north of Gaza yet.
Violence in Gaza since the truce has mostly focused around the "yellow line" demarcating Israel's military pullback. On Tuesday Israel's public Kan radio reported troops had killed a person crossing the line and advancing towards them.
Palestinians near the line, running across devastated areas close to major cities, have said it is not clearly marked and hard to know where the exclusion zone begins. Israeli bulldozers began placing yellow concrete blocks along the route on Monday.
The Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday at least seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave over the previous 24 hours bringing to 68,229 the total number killed since the war began.
Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies, with another 251 dragged into Gaza as hostages.
NASA's new flagship astronomical observatory was launched into space from Florid...
At least 37 people were killed after a Russian drone strike hit an ammunition depot in the Kyiv region, triggering powerful secondary explosions&nb...
Iran has reached an understanding with Oman on transit arrangements through the Strait of Hormuz, but the waterway will remain closed until the U.S...
Iran is setting conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including an end to the war, the lifting of the U.S. blockade and sanctions. At the same time, Washington is stepping up economic pressure on Tehran through what the White House calls “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Mail sorting centres used by Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal company, were destroyed in Russian strikes overnight, the firm said. Elsewhere, four people were injured after drones struck an apartment building in Sevastopol, Crimea, according to the Moscow-installed governor.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused U.S. government and Israel-aligned actors of manipulating energy markets to promote the war with Iran.
Russian strikes on the Kyiv region overnight killed 37 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Zelenskyy added that the Ukrainian capital was under "virtually nonstop attack" from drones.
Iran has reached an understanding with Oman on transit arrangements through the Strait of Hormuz, but the waterway will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils its commitments, a senior Iranian diplomat said on Saturday.
NASA's new flagship astronomical observatory was launched into space from Florida on Sunday on a mission to probe some of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics and cosmology.
At least 37 people were killed after a Russian drone strike hit an ammunition depot in the Kyiv region, triggering powerful secondary explosions President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday, vowing to punish suspected negligence in the second such incident in two months.
Niger said it had regained control of a key military airbase in the capital Niamey after an attack by mutinous soldiers on Saturday (29 August). Explosions and gunfire were reported in the capital, including around the military airbase and the presidential complex.
Icelanders have voted to stay outside the European Union, rejecting a government-backed proposal to reopen membership negotiations and keeping the country’s long-running debate over EU membership unresolved, according to the latest counting figures.
A 22-year-old woman has been killed and five other people injured, some seriously, after shots were fired at a rave in Aarau, northern Switzerland, police said on Sunday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment