In a meeting with Trump's vice president, Netanyahu opposed the entry of Turkish soldiers into the Strip. Vance also met with families of kidnapped and surviving captives and admitted:"It's not certain that we will be able to return everyone." They replied: "Closing the circle is important to everyone." Close American supervision of the implementation of the agreement continues - and with it the air train: Rubio arrives in Israel tomorrow
Itamar Eichner
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During his meeting with US Vice President J.D. Vance, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear that he opposes the entry of Turkish soldiers into the Gaza Strip, in accordance with US President Donald Trump's plan."This is a red line," Netanyahu said, according to sources familiar with the details.
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As part of his visit to Israel
Today (Wednesday), Vance also met with the families of the hostages and survivors of captivity and said that Washington will continue to work in every possible way to return the deceased hostages."I cannot guarantee that everyone will return, but we are working on it together with the other partners to make it happen as quickly as possible," Vance said. Referring to the fight against Hamas, the Vice President emphasized that"it is clear to the United States that the removal of Hamas from Gaza must be completed in order to restore security."
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Vance in a meeting with President Yitzhak Herzog, today (Photo: Nathan Howard/Pool via REUTERS)
Vance also said to the families that he was committed to everyone. He was attentive to the fact that the families had grown closer to each other and a mutual bond had been formed between them, and said that he had also heard from the survivors of the captivity who had returned the need to return everyone. The families of the abductees and the survivors explained to him why it was important to them to return all the deceased abductees. They asked him not to continue implementing Phase II of the plan until Hamas had fulfilled its part and returned all the deceased remaining in Gaza."A proper burial and closing the circle are important to all the families."
The meeting was also attended by the chairman of the Heroism Forum, Yehoshua Shani, the father of Captain Uri Mordechai, who fought and fell on the first day of the war near the Kissufim outpost. Shani told Vance about the heroic battle in which his son fought, and about the hundreds of fallen soldiers whose families are members of the forum. Shani asked the Vice President, on behalf of the bereaved families, to also fulfill the second part of the agreement - which includes removing the security threat from Gaza and destroying Hamas."We ask with all our strength that the United States allow Israel to complete the mission of destroying the enemy," he said. Vance replied:"We are working on this with the Israeli government."
Concurrent with the Vice President's visit, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to arrive in Israel tomorrow, as part of the US's continued oversight of the implementation of the agreement. His visit comes as part of a busy series of visits by senior US officials - aimed at ensuring that the ceasefire is maintained and that the deal with Hamas progresses according to the US plan.
It's hard to ignore.
The growing involvement of the United States
In managing events in Israel, to the point of an almost daily political and security presence. Senior officials in Washington and Jerusalem define this as"close involvement," designed to ensure that the ceasefire is maintained and that the agreement in Gaza is fully implemented. From the Americans' perspective, this is about the need to closely monitor the process and prevent a security escalation that would undermine recent achievements.
The Americans have established an international headquarters in Israel in the Kiryat Gat industrial zone, where about 200 American soldiers are stationed alongside representatives from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, Denmark and Germany. Vice President Vance visited the headquarters, at the center of which a press conference was held in the presence of American and British generals and under the Israeli and US flags. Large signs were placed behind the podium with the inscription"Trump's 20-point plan" - the American vision for Gaza that is supposed to be realized step by step.
Vance, alongside Netanyahu. Rejected the claim:"A protectorate state? Israel will decide on its own security" (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Vance was asked at noon at the door
His meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
If Israel has become a protectorate of the United States, the two denied it."Sometimes they say it is our protectorate, and other times we are theirs," Netanyahu said."Israel will decide on its security."
Vance added: "We don't want a protectorate - we want a partnership, a strong ally. The president believes that Israel can play a positive leadership role in the region." Nevertheless, the reality on the ground is clear: What we will see here from now on is intensive American involvement. They will not let the deal fall apart. First of all, they want to see the return of all the dead hostages to Israel. Vance said that some of the dead are buried very deep in the ground and it will take time to locate them all,"we need to be patient." He spoke of a phenomenon, as he put it, in which the Western media hysterically reports on every incident or violation in order to present it as a failure of the agreement - but alongside the difficulties, he made it clear that he is optimistic and that there is a tremendous effort to maintain the ceasefire.
The Americans are already working on the second phase of the deal, which includes establishing a military stabilization force that will be physically stationed in the Strip and whose role will be to ensure that Hamas disarms and Gaza is demilitarized, but also that Israel does not act militarily and violates the ceasefire, since Israel will not bomb Gaza while there are foreign soldiers there. The stabilization force will be a counterweight to Hamas and will give the population the feeling that someone is protecting it.
At the same time, the Americans are establishing a mechanism for civilian control over Gaza. This means a government of technocrats, which will consist of Palestinian and international experts."Kan" news reported that Hamas will be involved in choosing half of this government - so that it is clear to everyone that the terrorist organization will not lose control over Gaza.
Israel was quick to say that they would be the ones to confirm the identities of all members of the government and that if they were found to be Hamas members, they would be disqualified. Official political sources declared:"We will not allow Hamas to take part in the management of Gaza, exactly as the agreement states." We will have to wait and see if Hamas will indeed give up control. Vance was more forceful and made it clear that if Hamas does not disarm, it will be destroyed. He also reached out to Hamas terrorists and said that they would be granted amnesty if they acted in accordance with the agreement.
