Vance Visits Israel as US Deploys 200 Personnel

Vice President JD Vance, accompanied by Second Lady Usha Vance, traveled to Israel to shore up and help implement the fragile Gaza ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration. He visited the Civilian Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, held private briefings with military leaders and met at the airport with senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Vance was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, families and some released hostages, and to hold a news conference during a stay through Thursday. The trip followed weekend violence that briefly threatened to collapse the truce, with both sides accusing breaches and Israel still awaiting the return of some hostage remains even as others were released. The administration plans to deploy about 200 U.S. personnel to oversee the ceasefire and to embed Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and possibly Emirati officers as it seeks to jumpstart the next phase of a 20-point peace plan, though longer-term political negotiations remain difficult.