Defense Minister Israel Katz added that demolishing the tunnels is the most important joint mission in demobilizing Gaza in accordance with Trump's ceasefire plan. More than 60% of Hamas tunnels were left undestroyed during the war,

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance sought Wednesday to ease concerns in Israel that the Trump administration was dictating terms to its closest ally in the Middle East, as he and other top U.S. envoys visit Israel this week to support the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The vice president was the latest U.S. official to meet with the Israeli PM since a flare-up in violence threatened the truce. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to follow Friday.

Vice President JD Vance visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during his trip to Israel, calling it an "amazing blessing" and a "very special moment."

A reporter asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Vice President JD Vance during Vance's visit this week to Jerusalem whether the U.S. pressuring Israel to make a peace deal with Hamas makes it an American "vassal state or protectorate.

The vice president said that while he can't have "100% certainty that it's going to work," he has "great optimism the ceasefire is going to hold."

After Israel-Hamas clashes test Trump's Gaza peace deal, his top negotiators return to the region to shore up the ceasefire.

Vice President Vance told reporters on the tarmac as he prepared to fly home from a several-day trip to Israel, that "for all of the issues and all the problems right now, I think we can say with confidence that Israel is respecting the ceasefire,