Vance tried to downplay any idea that his visit — his first as vice president — was urgently arranged to keep the ceasefire in place. He said he feels “confident that we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts,” but warned that if Hamas doesn’t cooperate, it will be “obliterated.”

Vice President JD Vance said that he's confident in "durable" peace amid the ceasefire, warning Hamas will be "obliterated" if it doesn't cooperate.

Eyal Zamir added that the return of the remains of the 13 hostages still held in Gaza "must be a prerequisite before moving to the next phase. ” The IDF considers the disarmament of Hamas a necessary condition for moving to the next stage of the US-brokered Gaza deal,

Before boarding a plane for Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that U.N. backing was a potential next step to deploying an international stabilization force to the war-torn enclave.

Vice President JD Vance declined to be drawn on how long Hamas would have before the US took action to force the Islamist movement to disarm as part of the Gaza cease fire agreement. "If Hamas doesn't comply with the deal,

Vice President JD Vance met with Israeli Prime Minister after arriving in Israel earlier in the week to try and stabilize the first phase of the ceasefire.

"We have to be a little bit flexible. I think what you're seeing from our Gulf Arab friends, certainly from our Israeli friends, is a certain amount of impatience with Hamas."

Vance also cautioned that “there is currently no existing security infrastructure to guarantee Hamas’s disarmament.”