Vance repeats Trump’s Hamas threat; concedes return of dead ‘difficult’
The US vice president has conceded that the retrieval of Israeli captives’ bodies from Gaza will not “happen overnight”.
“Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to get ’em, and that doesn’t mean we don’t have confidence that we will – it’s just a reason to counsel in favour of a little bit of patience. This is going to take a little bit of time,” Vance told reporters.
He said the United States is still demanding that Hamas disarm, but that, too, will take time.
“But right now where I stand,” Vance said, “I feel confident that we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts, where it’s durable, and if Hamas doesn’t cooperate, then as the president of the United States has said, Hamas is going to be obliterated.”
Vance added that, like Trump, he would not put a specific deadline on Hamas disarming.
US VP dismisses possibility of American ground troops in Gaza
US Vice President JD Vance says there will be no United States “boots on the ground” in Gaza.
“I think it important for Americans to know a couple of things: there are not going to be American troops on the ground in Gaza. All of our military leadership has made that clear.”
He said the US’s role would be to help coordinate between American allies and mediate the terms of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“I think that everybody should be proud of where we are today. It’s going to require constant effort. It’s going to require constant monitoring and supervision,” Vance said of the truce.
Kushner: Reconstruction funds excluded areas still under Hamas control
US envoy Jared Kushner says reconstruction funds won’t be going to parts of Gaza still under Hamas control.
Considerations for rebuilding have started for areas of Gaza under Israeli military control, which is about two-thirds of the Palestinian territory.
So basically building Settlements in the occupied part of Gaza without any input from Palestinians.
