US Vice-President JD Vance has arrived in Israel as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to strengthen the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Vance, Witkoff and Kushner are also attempting to ensure the ceasefire deal, which is based on the first phase of the peace plan, does not collapse first.
Afterwards, the Israeli military said it was resuming enforcement of the ceasefire, while Hamas said it remained committed to the agreement.
The Israeli military said its troops fired towards ” terrorists” who crossed the so-called “Yellow Line”, which demarcates the area still occupied by Israeli forces.
Twenty living Israeli hostages were also released last week in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails.
Trump administration efforts to fortify the ceasefire agreement in Gaza have brought US Vice-President JD Vance to Israel.
In order to put an end to the war with Hamas permanently, he is anticipated to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin long-term talks.
On Monday, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the two special U.S. envoys who assisted in negotiating the agreement, also met with Netanyahu.
Following a violent outburst on Sunday that threatened to end the 12-day-old truce, their visits were made. Israel claimed that two soldiers were killed in a Hamas attack, which led to Israeli airstrikes that killed scores of Palestinians.
According to reports, Trump sent his deputy and envoys to Israel to maintain the momentum and encourage the initiation of negotiations on the second crucial stage of his 20-point peace plan for Gaza.
It would include disarming Hamas, withdrawing Israeli troops, establishing an international stabilization force, and establishing an interim government in Palestinian territory.
Israel has previously stated that it would not participate in these negotiations until Hamas has released all of the hostages it has been holding who have died.
On the basis of the first phase of the peace plan, Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner are also trying to make sure the ceasefire agreement doesn’t fall apart first.
According to the New York Times, US officials expressed concern that Israel’s prime minister might “vacate” the agreement and launch a full-scale offensive against Hamas.
Netanyahu informed the Israeli parliament on Monday that he would speak with Vance about “political opportunities” and “security challenges” while he was there.
In response to what he described as a “blatant” violation of the ceasefire by Hamas on Sunday, he also said that Israeli forces had dropped 153 tonnes of bombs on Gaza.
“One of our hands is out for peace, and the other one is holding a weapon,” he stated. It’s the strong that you make peace with, not the weak. Israel is more powerful now than ever. “..”.
After two Israeli soldiers were killed in a Sunday anti-tank missile attack in southern Gaza, the Israeli military blamed Hamas for carrying out dozens of strikes throughout the territory, which hospitals reported killed at least 45 Palestinians.
Later, Hamas declared its commitment to the ceasefire, while the Israeli military announced it was resuming its enforcement of the agreement.
However, Israeli fire on Monday is said to have killed four Palestinians east of Gaza City. According to the Israeli military, its soldiers opened fire on “terrorists” who had crossed the so-called “Yellow Line,” which marks the territory that is still under Israeli occupation.
“We struck a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very good,” Trump later told reporters at the White House. They’ll act appropriately. They’ll be pleasant. “,”.
“If they aren’t, we will go and, if necessary, eradicate them. They are aware that they will be exterminated,” he continued.
Khalil al-Hayya, the chief negotiator for Hamas, is currently in Cairo and has maintained that his group and other Palestinian factions are “determined to fully implement it until the end” and are committed to the ceasefire agreement.
He told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News TV, “Everything we heard from the mediators and the US president gives us confidence that the war in Gaza is over.”.
Hayya added that Hamas was committed to releasing the bodies of all the dead hostages who were still in Gaza, even though the group was having “extreme difficulty” recovering them from the rubble due to a lack of specialized equipment.
Israeli officials confirmed overnight that Hamas had given the Red Cross in Gaza the body of another Israeli hostage who had died.
The remains were recognized as those of 41-year-old Tal Haimi, who the Israeli military claimed was killed in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7, the day of the war-starting Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
Thus far, 13 of the 28 hostages whose bodies were in Gaza at the time of the ceasefire on October 10 have been returned.
Nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners in Israeli jails were exchanged for the release of 20 living Israeli hostages last week.
Hamas has not yet returned all of the dead hostages, which has angered Israel. The Israeli prime minister’s office claims that the group “was required to uphold its commitments.”.
The UN’s World Food Programme emphasized that maintaining the ceasefire was “vital” to providing the region with life-saving humanitarian aid.
With over 6,700 tonnes of food, 530 WFP trucks have entered Gaza since the ceasefire was implemented. Abeer Atefa, the spokesperson, stated at a Geneva briefing that this would be sufficient to feed nearly 500,000 people for two weeks.
The agency’s daily goal of 2,000 tonnes of supplies, she said, could not be met because not all of the territory’s crossings were open.
The food situation remained “extremely dire” in the north, where there were only two crossings that were operational: Kissufim and Kerem Shalom.
Although some specialized nutritional supplements for pregnant women and children have been sent to the north through the south, no large-scale delivery has been feasible.
There had been no looting of WFP supplies in the southern part of the territory, where people could now obtain food in a dignified and safe manner, according to Ms. Atefa.
But because they were so worried about the future and worried that deliveries might be stopped again, she said, many people were frequently only eating a small amount of their supplies and rationing the remainder.
In reaction to the violence on Sunday, Israel, which regulates the flow of aid into Gaza, temporarily suspended deliveries. On Monday, deliveries resumed after intense international pressure.
Following the October 7, 2023, attack in which gunmen led by Hamas killed approximately 1,200 people and captured 251 more, Israel began a military campaign in Gaza.
Since then, Israel’s attacks in Gaza have killed at least 68,216 people, according to the health ministry run by Hamas in the territory.
