Vice President Vance and Witkoff travel to Israel to advance the Gaza peace agreement to its next stage

Vice President Vance’s Visit to Israel

Vice President J.D. Vance is set to travel to Israel on Monday, aiming to support the next stage of the Gaza peace agreement.

He will be accompanied by Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to evaluate progress on President Trump’s 20-point peace framework, which seeks to bring an end to the conflict in Gaza. The first stage of the conflict will conclude with the return of 28 deceased Israeli hostages from Hamas, according to reports from The Times of Israel.

So far, Hamas has returned just ten bodies of those who were killed, after previously releasing twenty surviving prisoners on Monday, as noted by The Jerusalem Post.

Israeli officials announced the return of 76-year-old Eliyahu Margalit, one of the slain hostages, making him the tenth deceased individual returned since Israeli forces pulled out of the Gaza Strip.

However, despite the signing of a peace deal, tensions persist, with Hamas conducting public executions and showing reluctance to disarm.

Mohammed Nazar, a member of Hamas’s politburo, remarked to Reuters that the group is not willing to agree to disarmament, which Israel has insisted on as a condition for a cease-fire. This arms situation could hinder the efforts of both sides to establish a lasting peace, especially with U.S. support.

President Trump’s peace initiative, announced on September 29, calls for all Palestinian factions to return hostages before committing to disarmament and transitioning Gaza control to an oversight committee under the International Transitional Authority.

Trump, during a White House meeting this week, stated, “They will disarm because they said they would disarm. If they don’t disarm, we will disarm.”

In an interview on the network Newsmax, Vance emphasized the significance of this peace agreement and lauded the president’s unique diplomatic methods.

“We’ve seen too many failures in the past. The president insists on trying something different instead of repeating the same approaches that didn’t work for decades,” the former Ohio senator mentioned, reflecting on the prioritization of resolving existing issues.

Yet, the stakes are high; Trump indicated that Israel would not hesitate to resume military actions in Gaza if the bodies of the remaining hostages are not returned as expected.