U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance warned Wednesday of the challenges of disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza, on the second day of a trip to Israel to bolster support for the fragile ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory.

Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas accused each other on Sunday of violating the ceasefire after a spike in violence in the southern Gaza Strip. The truce, brokered by US President Donald Trump, took effect on October 10 and ended more than two years of war triggered by the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. To safeguard the ceasefire, the United States began an intense round of diplomatic visits that began on Monday with visits to Israel by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The two met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as did Vance on Wednesday. US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio will do so on Friday, although he will arrive in Israel on Thursday, the Israeli government said.
"We have a very difficult task ahead of us: to disarm Hamas and rebuild Gaza, to improve the lives of the people of Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas no longer poses a threat to our friends in Israel,"
Vance stressed at a press conference in Jerusalem with Netanyahu. The vice president's visit coincided with the issuance of a non-binding opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
"As the occupying power, Israel is obligated to guarantee the basic needs of the local population, including supplies essential to its survival,"
said the court's president, Yuji Iwasawa. The judge also stated that Israel
"has not substantiated its accusations that a significant portion of UNRWA employees are members of Hamas (...) or other terrorist factions."
Israel banned the UN agency from operating on Israeli territory after accusing some of its employees of participating in the October 2023 Hamas attack.

AFP

"We hope the ceasefire continues."

The court's opinion is not legally binding, but the court found it to have"great legal weight and moral authority." The US vice president on Tuesday expressed "great optimism" that the truce in Gaza will hold despite the weekend violence. After announcing the death of two soldiers in clashes in Rafah, in southern Gaza, the Israeli army launched dozens of airstrikes on Sunday in the territory. The attacks raised fears of the end of the truce, although both sides have since reaffirmed their support for the ceasefire.

"The situation has improved a lot: the war is over and we no longer hear the bombs and shelling as before," said Imran Skeik, a 34-year-old displaced person in the Al Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.
"We hope that the ceasefire will continue and that both Israel and Hamas will respect it. We are starting to rest a little, but there are still many problems to be resolved,"
he added from his tent. Trump's Gaza plan included the release of hostages still being held in Gaza by Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. It also calls for the disarmament of Hamas, although the Islamist group has so far refused to consider it. Vance said they would not set a deadline for Hamas's disarmament.

In Israel, the American vice president also referred to the"international security force" as one of the organizations that should be created for the future of Gaza. According to Trump's plan, this military mission would maintain peace in the enclave while Israel withdraws. Netanyahu, for his part, assured that ideas for the future of the Palestinian territory had been discussed."We are creating an incredible day after with a completely new vision of how to establish a civilian government, how to guarantee security there and who could provide it," he said."It will not be easy," but "it is possible," he considered."We are really creating a peace plan and infrastructure here where nothing existed just a week and a day ago," he added. Vance said the Gaza deal could also pave the way for partnerships for Israel in the Middle East."I think this Gaza deal is critical to unlocking the Abraham Accords," he said, referring to the series of normalization pacts between Israel and several Arab countries in 2020.