Vice President JD Vance warned Tuesday that Hamas must comply with the Gaza ceasefire agreement or “very bad things are going to happen,” but declined to set a deadline for the repercussions he and President Donald Trump have threatened for failure to disarm.
“I don’t think it’s actually advisable to say this has to be done in a week,” Vance said in Israel. “We don’t yet have the international security force set up.”
Vance made a trip to Israel this week as negotiations continue between Israel and Hamas. While he disputed that the timing was related to violence over the weekend that some feared could threaten the fragile ceasefire, Vance cautioned that peace would take “a very, very long time.”
Overall, Vance said the week-old ceasefire was “going better than expected.”
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“This is a very tough situation,” he told reporters, describing a process that will require patience as Gaza moves from years of fighting toward reconstruction. “We are in a very good place. …We’re going to have to keep working on it.”
Trump reiterated on Truth Social earlier Tuesday that Hamas would be brought to a swift end by U.S. allies if it “continues to act badly.”
Trump wrote that several allies in the Middle East have offered to enter Gaza “with a heavy force” if Hamas violates the agreement. “I told these countries, and Israel, ‘NOT YET!’” he 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!”
In Israel, Vance announced the opening of a U.S.-run coordination center where about 200 American troops are working with Israeli and regional partners to manage aid deliveries and early reconstruction plans.
He said the next stage of the plan focuses on demilitarization and reconstruction in areas cleared of Hamas control. The U.S. is helping organize an international stabilization force but, he said, “We’re not going to force anything on our Israeli friends when it comes to foreign troops.”
Trump’s son-in-law and former White House adviser Jared Kushner, who joined Vance at the site, said roughly half the bodies of deceased hostages had been recovered and that coordination between Israel and the United Nations on humanitarian aid had been “surprisingly strong.” He said reconstruction would begin only in areas no longer under Hamas control.
Vance said the U.S. will not deploy troops in Gaza but will coordinate with regional partners, including Turkey, the Gulf states and Indonesia, to maintain stability.
“It’s going to take constant effort, constant monitoring, and supervision,” he said. “What we’ve seen the past week gives me great optimism the ceasefire’s going to hold.”
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