VP Vance: Hamas will be ‘eradicated’ if they keep attacking Israel, executing Palestinians — but no US boots in Gaza — Arab/Muslim troops being mobilized to pacify Gaza
Rubio to arrive in Israel on Thursday
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — “If Hamas doesn’t comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen,” Vice President J.D. Vance said in Jerusalem today on Day One of his multi-day visit.
“Our warning to Hamas is very straightforward,” he continued. “The terms of the 20-point plan that the President put out there are very clear — Hamas has to disarm.”
“If Hamas doesn't cooperate, then, as the President of the United States has said, Hamas is going to be obliterated.”
“But I’m not going to do what the President of the United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult. A lot of this stuff is unpredictable.”
Vance noted that we’re only one week into the execution of the President’s peace plan and that it is going “better than expected.”
However, he acknowledged that it will be messy and will need time to succeed.
Vance conceded that “Israel and our Gulf Arab friends are impatient with Hamas” because they aren’t complying fully with the deal.
But Vance counseled patience and reiterated the U.S. commitment to make sure the terrorists in Gaza are utterly destroyed if they won’t peacefully stand down.
Yesterday at the White House, President Donald J. Trump told reporters he was ready to “eradicate” Hamas.
“We made a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very good, they’re going to behave, they’re going to be nice — and if not, we’re going to eradicate them if we have to,” Trump said.
This afternoon, Trump wrote on social media that “there is still hope that Hamas will do what is right,” but “if they do not, the end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!”
VANCE: NO AMERICAN BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN GAZA
That said, Trump does not want Israel to have to go back to war in Gaza.
Nor does he want to put American forces in Gaza.
"There are not going to be American boots on the ground in Gaza,” Vance said today.
“The President of the United States has made that very clear."
VANCE: ARAB AND MUSLIM TROOPS WILL PACIFY GAZA
Rather, the White House and Pentagon want to rapidly build what they’re calling an “International Stabilization Force” (ISF) that will be tasked with policing Gaza, disarming Hamas, and clearing the Strip of all weapons and ammunition.
Before leaving Washington on Sunday, Vance suggested Gulf Arab forces were likely to take the lead in disarming Hamas, as ALL ISRAEL NEWS reported.
“Hamas is going to fire on Israel,” Vance said. “Israel is going to have to respond. Some of Hamas’s cells will probably honor the ceasefire, and many of them will not. To properly disarm Hamas, we’ll need Gulf Arab states to get forces in there to apply some law and order and security keeping on the ground.”
That said, Egypt is reportedly going to take the lead in running the ISF.
The head of Egyptian intelligence arrived in Israel today to meet with U.S. and Israeli officials to work out the details.
Indonesia has offered to send 20,000 troops to participate in the ISF.
Other Muslim countries are expected to contribute troops as well.
What Netanyahu and his colleagues absolutely do not want is to see Turkish or Qatari forces in Gaza, since these are two governments that have supported Hamas over the years and host Hamas leaders in their countries.
On this important point, Vance worked to reassure Israeli leaders.
“We're not going to force anything on our Israeli friends when it comes to foreign troops on their soil, but we do think that there's a constructive role for the Turks to play — and frankly, they've already played a very constructive role," Vance said.
VANCE, WITKOFF, KUSHNER ARE IN ISRAEL TO KEEP CEASEFIRE FROM BLOWING APART — RUBIO COMING NEXT
Just last week, Trump came to Israel on Air Force One to declare an end to the war in Gaza and welcome home the 20 live Israeli hostages that he and his team forced Hamas to release all at once.
Today, Vice President J.D. Vance arrived in Israel on Air Force Two to make sure the very fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip does not completely collapse.
Over the past few days, Hamas terrorists have broken the ceasefire multiple times.
Hamas has launched new attacks on Israel Defense Forces, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding numerous others.
In response, Israel has bombed 100 Hamas sites.
Hamas has not immediately turned over all 28 bodies of Israelis they murdered on October 7th or over the past few years, even though they had promised to do so at the same time as returning all the live hostages on Monday, October 13th.
So far, they have returned only 13 bodies while claiming difficulties finding the other 15 remains.
What’s more, Hamas leaders are saying publicly that they have no intention of laying down their arms or allowing the Trump administration to demilitarize — much less de-radicalize — the Gaza Strip.
In short, Hamas is testing Trump.
And Israelis are getting anxious.
Kicking off only his second trip to Israel, Vance met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials and reassured them of the full backing of the world’s only superpower in enforcing this peace agreement and forcing Hamas to comply.
Joining Vance were senior White House advisors Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who arrived in Israel on Sunday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to arrive in Israel on Friday.
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
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