JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President JD Vance was holding talks in Israel on Tuesday as Washington tries to stabilize the first, shaky, phase of the Gaza ceasefire and push Israel and Hamas towards the harder concessions asked of each side in coming talks.
The two sides have accused each other of repeated breaches of the ceasefire since it was formally agreed eight days ago, with flashes of violence and recriminations over the pace of returning hostage bodies, bringing in aid and opening borders.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan will require much more difficult steps to which the sides have yet to fully commit, including the disarmament of Hamas and steps towards a Palestinian state.
FOCUS ON MOVING TO SECOND PHASE OF CEASEFIRE
Vance, who has so far made no public remarks during the visit, is due to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The trip follows Monday’s talks between Netanyahu and U.S. envoys Steven Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and comes as Hamas meet mediators in Cairo.
A senior Israeli official said the purpose of Vance’s visit was to advance the Gaza talks to the second phase of the ceasefire.
Israel is pressing for stronger assurances on Hamas disarming – a step to which the group has so far refused to commit – said a source briefed on the matter.
Hamas’ Cairo talks, led by the group’s exiled leader Khalil al-Hayya, are also looking at prospects for the next phase of the truce and post-war arrangements in Gaza as well as stabilizing the existing ceasefire.
The head of intelligence for key Gaza mediator Egypt met Netanyahu earlier on Tuesday to discuss advancing the ceasefire plan and other issues, Israel said. The intelligence chief, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, will later meet Witkoff, Egyptian television reported.
Underscoring the fragility of the truce, Qatar, another of the mediators, on Tuesday accused Israel of “continuous violations”. It and Turkey, which has used its role to bolster its regional position, have been key interlocutors with Hamas.
FUTURE ROLE OF HAMAS?
Trump’s plan called for the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian committee overseen by an international board with Hamas taking no role in governance.
A Palestinian official close to the talks said Hamas encouraged the formation of such a committee to run Gaza without any of its representatives, but with the consent of the group as well as the Palestinian Authority and other factions.
Last week, senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal told Reuters the group expected to maintain a security role on the ground in Gaza during an undefined interim period.
Hamas last week battled rival gangs on the streets in Gaza and publicly executed men it accused of having collaborated with Israel. Trump condoned the killings but the U.S. military’s Middle East command urged Hamas to stop violence “without delay”.
Vance was expected on Tuesday to visit the headquarters of joint forces led by the U.S. military and meant to help with Gaza stabilization efforts.
RETURN OF BODIES AND AID DELIVERIES
Speaking to Egyptian television late on Monday, Hayya reaffirmed the group’s compliance with the truce and said it would fulfil its obligations in the first phase, including returning more bodies of hostages.
“Let their (hostages) bodies return to their families, and let the bodies of our martyrs return to their families to be buried in dignity,” he said.
One more body of a hostage seized by Hamas in its October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war was returned on Monday and identified by Israeli authorities. Some 15 bodies are believed to remain in Gaza, with Israel expecting about five of them to be returned soon and others requiring a slower, more complex, process of retrieval.
Israel handed back another 15 Palestinian bodies on Tuesday, local health authorities said, taking the total it has returned to Gaza to 165.
Inside the enclave on Tuesday, more aid was flowing into the enclave through two Israeli-controlled crossings, Palestinian and U.N. officials said.
However, with Gaza residents facing catastrophic conditions, aid agencies have said far more needs to be brought in.
The U.N. World Food Program said supplies were ramping up but fell far short of its daily target of 2,000 tons, saying this was because only two crossings into Gaza were open. It said none had reached the famine-hit north of Gaza yet.
Violence in Gaza since the truce has mostly focused around the “yellow line” demarcating Israel’s military pullback. On Tuesday Israel’s public Kan radio reported troops had killed a person crossing the line and advancing towards them.
Palestinians near the line, running across devastated areas close to major cities, have said it is not clearly marked and hard to know where the exclusion zone begins. Israeli bulldozers began placing yellow concrete blocks along the route on Monday.
The Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday at least seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave over the previous 24 hours bringing to 68,229 the total number killed since the war began.
Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies, with another 251 dragged into Gaza as hostages.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell, Steven Scheer and Alex Cornwell in Jerusalem; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Alison Williams)
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