The VP, speaking from a southern Israeli town, also said the Jewish state will have final say on the composition of an international peacekeeping force in Gaza
Hamas must disarm or it is “going to be obliterated,” Vice President JD Vance said during a Tuesday press conference in Israel, where he galvanized support for the freshly inked ceasefire pact and laid the groundwork for an international peacekeeping force to assume control of Gaza’s security.
“The terms of the 20-point plan that the president put out there is very clear,” Vance said during a stop at the U.S.-Israeli ceasefire coordination center in Kiryat Gat, a southern Israeli town located near the Gazan border. “It’s that Hamas has to disarm. It’s that Hamas has to actually behave itself and that Hamas, while all the fighters can be given some sort of clemency, they’re not going to be able to kill each other, and they’re not going to be able to kill their fellow Palestinians.”
Vance said he feels confident the peace will last, but noted, “If Hamas doesn’t cooperate, then, as the United States has said, Hamas is going to be obliterated.”
The vice president’s comments echoed remarks from President Donald Trump during a Monday press conference at the White House. Trump lashed out at Hamas for conducting a series of bloody raids on opposition groups throughout Gaza, saying the terror group’s bid to reassert control over the coastal territory is doomed to fail.
“This is a very violent group of people, and they got very rambunctious, and they did things that they shouldn’t be doing,” Trump said. “And if they keep doing it, then we’re going to go in and straighten it out, and it’ll happen very quickly and pretty violently. Unfortunately, we are going to eradicate Hamas.”
Vance arrived in Israel amid mounting concerns about the terror group’s willingness to adhere to the ceasefire’s terms. Hamas fighters attacked Israeli soldiers multiple times over the weekend in direct violation of the deal, and the terror group has continued to signal it has no interest in giving up its weapons.
Hamas has also failed to return all 28 deceased Israeli hostages, releasing just 13 bodies since the peace deal was signed last week. The terror group released another two bodies from Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The IDF is making preparations to receive the coffins.
Vance made clear during his Tuesday press conference that Israel will have final say over the composition of an international peacekeeping force, assuring Jerusalem it does not need to worry about Hamas allies joining the coalition.
“What troops are on the ground in Israel is going to be a question the Israelis have to agree to,” Vance said in response to a question from the Times of Israel. “We’re not going to force anything on our Israeli friends when it comes to foreign troops on their soil.”
The vice president did add that Turkey has a “constructive role” to play in the ceasefire process, even though Ankara has backed Hamas in the past.
“No one who is a party to this conflict can look in the past and not point at something that they don’t like or that they disagree with,” Vance said of Turkey’s historically chilly relations with Israel. “The way that we’re going to get to peace is to focus on the future.”
Some nations are already expressing reservations about joining the international peacekeeping force meant to maintain calm in Gaza as Israel withdraws from the territory, the New York Times reported Tuesday, owing to the potential for direct conflict with Hamas.
Trump appeared to dismiss these concerns in a Tuesday post on Truth Social, though, writing, “Numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East” are prepared to enter Gaza and “straighten out Hamas.”
Several regional allies “informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and ‘straighten out Hamas’ if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us,” Trump wrote. “There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right. If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!”
Any force that confronts Hamas will have to move quickly. The terror group is already retaking control of hospitals and schools throughout Gaza and turning them into violent interrogation centers, the Washington Free Beacon reported Tuesday, citing Arab-language reports.
“Hamas is working to restore its pre-war status, and its reoccupation of hospitals and other civilian sites fit that pattern,” Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Free Beacon on Monday. “The IDF is unlikely to move against Hamas since Israel’s leadership is determined to avoid actions that could unravel the ceasefire.”
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