Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel today to help reinforce the fragile ceasefire agreement in Gaza, which has faced significant challenges from recent violence and ongoing questions about achieving long-term peace in the region.
Vance met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and families of hostages during his visit. Earlier today, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with some of the released Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv.
Vance met with Netanyahu amid the opening of the Civilian Military Cooperation Center. He said that the opening of the center is a step toward peace.
"When you have people who hate each other, who have been fighting against each other for a very long time, we are doing very well. We are in a very good place. We're going to have to keep working on it, but I think we have the team to do exactly that. So with all thanks to our partners, both in Israel, but all across the Gulf Arab states, Indonesia, the Turks, we are doing an amazing thing here," he said.
The visit comes just days after what has been described as a tumultuous weekend in the Middle East that served as the first major test of the ceasefire. Israel accused Hamas of killing Israeli soldiers, prompting Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza. The situation could have escalated into a return to war, but the ceasefire was ultimately restored.
Vance told reporters on Tuesday that he has "great optimism" that the ceasefire will hold.
"There are going to be moments where it looks like things aren't going particularly well. But given that, and given the history of conflict, I think that everybody should be proud of where we are today," he said.
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The high-profile diplomatic presence in the region reflects the administration's affirmation of the peace process. Kushner and Witkoff, who were instrumental in securing the original ceasefire agreement, are currently on the ground in the region. Both officials were recently profiled on "60 Minutes" for their role in the negotiations.
The visit demonstrates that the Trump administration remains actively engaged in Middle East peace efforts and has not moved on to other foreign policy priorities. While the initial phases of the ceasefire deal focused on the exchange of hostages and prisoners, the more challenging aspects lie ahead.
Future negotiations will need to address complex issues, including Gaza's political status, land boundaries, and the potential deployment of an international peacekeeping force in the region. Netanyahu is reportedly pushing for greater engagement with Hamas in the next phase of negotiations.
"You basically have two regions in Gaza, one of which is relatively safe, I wouldn't say very safe, and one of which is incredibly dangerous," Vance said on Tuesday. "And part of ensuring that we get to a durable peace is to broaden the scope of the area that's safe. And the international security force is a big part of that, we don't yet have the international security set up. That's something we're working towards. We have a number of volunteers who want to participate in that international security force."
Middle East experts warn that these upcoming discussions will be significantly more difficult than the initial agreement, as they involve fundamental questions about governance and territorial control that have been at the heart of the conflict for decades.
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