 "Dealmaking diplomacy: Is Trump turning Gaza peace into a business pitch with Witkoff at his side?")
US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday began his journey to Israel as the Trump administration tries to salvage the Gaza ceasefire after Israel launched airstrikes over the weekend, threatening the peace deal.
US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and senior advisor Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to discuss the ceasefire as Israel and Hamas trade barbs over violating it.
Israel launched airstrikes across Gaza after the deaths of two Israeli soldiers. Shosh Bedrosian, a spokeswoman for Netanyahu’s office, said that Netanyahu, Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Kushner, “discussed “developments and updates in the region.”
What will Vance do?
During his visit to Israel, Vance is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on Tuesday to discuss the next stage of the ceasefire plan, still under negotiation and encompassing the more complex, long-term steps needed to end the war permanently, a person familiar with his itinerary told the Washington Post. The talks are expected to center on the potential deployment of a multinational force in Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas.
Meanwhile, Witkoff and Kushner, who were slated to visit Israel before the airstrikes were launched on Sunday, attempted to mediate the issues that were already present in the ceasefire deal.
Late Sunday, the Israeli military announced it had completed its strikes and was unilaterally reinstating the ceasefire. An Israeli security official said humanitarian aid would resume entering Gaza on Monday as normal, reversing an earlier decision made that evening to block all aid shipments in response to the attack on IDF soldiers.
‘Eradicate Hamas’
US President Donald Trump warned Hamas Monday it would be “eradicated” if it breaches the Gaza deal with Israel, but said he would give the Palestinian militant group a chance to honor the truce.
Vice President JD Vance headed to Israel shortly after Trump’s comments, joining two top US envoys after weekend violence threatened to wreck the fragile ceasefire.
“We made a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very good, they’re going to behave, they’re going to be nice,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“And if they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them, if we have to. They’ll be eradicated, and they know that.”
With inputs from agencies
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