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United States Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism on Tuesday that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is likely to hold, during his visit to a newly opened US-Israel ceasefire coordination center in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel.
Vance, accompanied by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and top Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, visited Israel with the aim of reinforcing the fragile ceasefire, ensuring all sides remain committed to its terms, and advancing the next phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan. The visit followed President Trump's warning that he could deploy international forces into Gaza to confront Hamas over any violations of the ceasefire, though he said he would first give the group a chance to 'course correct'. "We are one week into President Trump's historic peace plan in the Middle East, and things are going, frankly, better than I expected," Vance said at the start of a press conference inside the coordination center. He added, "Here at the civilian-military cooperation center, which we are announcing the opening of, you have Israelis and Americans working hand-in-hand to try to begin the plan to rebuild Gaza, to implement a long-term peace, and to actually ensure that you have security forces on the ground in Gaza, not composed of Americans, who can keep the peace over the long term," flanked by Witkoff, Kushner, and US CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper. Vance is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to convey a message from President Trump that the US does not want the ceasefire deal to fall through. American officials are reportedly concerned that Netanyahu could walk away from the agreement, which is backed by multiple guarantors. Trump has said that 59 different entities and countries are involved in supporting the truce. In a post on Truth Social, Trump reiterated that there is still hope Hamas would comply with the agreements, but warned that failure to do so would have severe consequences. He wrote, "There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right. If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL! I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help... TO EVERYONE, thank you for your attention to this matter!" So far, only Indonesia has publicly expressed willingness to contribute troops to a UN-mandated international force that would help secure postwar Gaza, while Turkey and Azerbaijan have privately indicated their readiness, according to officials cited by The Times of Israel. (ANI)
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