KIRYAT GAT (Realist English). U.S. Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism on Tuesday that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza would hold as he inaugurated a new U.S.-Israel ceasefire coordination center in southern Israel.
Vance, joined by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, senior adviser Jared Kushner, and U.S. CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper, said the facility would serve as the main hub for coordinating reconstruction efforts in Gaza and implementing President Donald Trump’s broader peace plan for the region.
“We are one week into President Trump’s historic peace plan in the Middle East, and things are, frankly, going better than I expected,” Vance told reporters at the center. “Here you have Israelis and Americans working hand in hand to start rebuilding Gaza and to ensure that long-term peace can be sustained by local security forces — not by American troops.”
The new center, located in Kiryat Gat’s industrial zone, hosted soldiers and contractors from Israel, the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, Denmark, and Jordan, with their flags displayed throughout the hall. Vance emphasized that while the project includes foreign participation, the United States would not deploy “boots on the ground” in Gaza but would focus on coordination and logistics.
His visit came hours after President Trump warned that the U.S. might send an international stabilization force into Gaza if Hamas continues to violate the ceasefire, though he said he would give the group “a chance to course correct.”
“How do you take the Gulf Arab states, plus Israel, plus the Turks, plus Indonesia — and get them to work together for long-term peace?” Vance asked. “The only real mediator is the United States of America. That’s the role we’re going to play.”
Vance acknowledged that the UN-backed stabilization mission was still in its planning phase and that building lasting peace would “take a very, very long time.”
He also addressed concerns about hostages’ remains still held in Gaza, noting that recovery efforts were ongoing. “Some are buried under rubble. Some, no one knows where they are. This is going to take time,” he said.
Turning to one of the key conditions of Trump’s peace framework, Vance said Hamas must disarm and end internal violence. “They can be given some clemency, but they can’t keep killing each other or their fellow Palestinians,” he stated, condemning the group’s public executions since the ceasefire began.
Vance criticized what he called a “weird attitude” in Western media, saying that “every act of violence” was too quickly interpreted as the collapse of the peace deal. “It’s not the end,” he said. “This is how it has to unfold when people who have fought each other for decades begin to coexist. We are doing very well.”
The vice president is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday to discuss the next stage of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza and the broader Middle East.
