JD Vance appeals for patience as Gaza truce hangs in balance
Washington will not send troops into Gaza, says US Vice President JD Vance.
US Vice President JD Vance told reporters in Israel yesterday (21 October) that he thinks the Gaza peace plan is going to last but repeated President Donald Trump's claims that, if Hamas does not cooperate, it will be "obliterated."
Vance urged a "little bit of patience" amid growing Israeli frustration with Israeli hostage families sharing details of their ordeals and Hamas's pace of return of deceased hostages.
"Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are," Vance said. "It's just a reason to counsel in favour of a little bit of patience."
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He added that "a lot of this work is very hard" as he faced questions over the next steps, and he urged flexibility.
Hamas has so far released 13 bodies of hostages that were held in Gaza for the past two years as part of the ceasefire agreement in the conflict with Israel.
US will not send troops into Gaza, Vance says
Vance said during the press briefing in Israel that the US will not send troops into Gaza, echoing comments made by Trump.
"There are not going to be American boots on the ground in Gaza. The president of the United States has made that very clear. All of our military leadership has made that very clear."
Vance added that the US will limit itself to providing "useful coordination."
He also added that Washington has not set a deadline for the disarmament of Hamas set out in the Gaza deal.
"We know that Hamas has to comply with the deal and if Hamas doesn't comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen, but I'm not going to do what the president of the United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it because a lot of this stuff is difficult," Vance said.
'Better than expected'
Vance opened his press conference by saying Hamas is a terrorist organisation and that the Israeli military was "defending itself" throughout the conflict.
Vance arrived in Israel earlier yesterday, along with his wife, Usha Vance, and is expected to stay in the region until Thursday.
Vance continues negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, with the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, having landed in Tel Aviv to continue work on the ceasefire deal on Monday.
Vance visited a newly opened civilian-military cooperation centre in Israel that the US says is central to keeping Trump's Gaza peace plan on track.
Gaza's fragile ceasefire faced its first major test on Sunday as Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes, saying Hamas militants had killed two soldiers.
The Israeli military later said on Sunday it resumed enforcing the ceasefire that first went into effect on 10 October.
