Star Metro - US pushes plan to disarm Hamas and rebuild Gaza

Vance met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the second day of a trip to Israel, part of a diplomatic blitz in support of the US-brokered plan to end the fighting, recover hostages and, eventually, rebuild the devastated Palestinian territory.

"We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza, to make life better for the people of Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel," Vance said.

Vance had kicked off the three-day visit on Tuesday by opening the Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) in southwest Israel, where US and allied troops will work with Israeli forces to monitor the truce and to oversee aid to Gaza.

- Turkish troops? -

"A lot of our Israeli friends working together with a lot of Americans to actually mediate this entire ceasefire process, to get some of the critical infrastructure off the ground, " Vance said, after talks with Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Vance cited an "international security force" as one of the bodies that would have to be set up. Under US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan, this military mission would keep the peace in Gaza as Israel withdraws.

Several US allies are considering joining the force, but no American troops would be on the ground inside Gaza, instead coordinating from the CMCC in Kiryat Gat, Israel.

Reports that Israel's outspoken critic and regional rival Turkey could provide troops have rattled Israeli opinion.

Netanyahu said decisions on the new security force would be made in discussion with the United States, but on Turkey's role he said: "I have very strong opinions about that. You want to guess what they are?"

- 'Great optimism' -

Despite an eruption of violence on Sunday, when two soldiers were killed and Israel responded with a deadly wave of air strikes, Vance expressed "great optimism" that the ceasefire would hold and the plan to end the war proceed.

Netanyahu and his wife Sara welcomed Vance and the US Second Lady Usha Vance to his office and the couples sat down for breakfast, followed by a working meeting and a televised news conference.

The Israeli leader, who has been criticised by some domestic opponents for accepting the US-backed ceasefire before Hamas was fully destroyed and before all the remains of deceased hostages are returned, defended the deal.

"We've been able to do two things. Put the knife up to Hamas's throat. That was the military effort guided by Israel," he said, thanking Trump for his diplomatic efforts in the broader Middle East, smoothing relations with Israel's neighbours.

"And the other effort was to isolate Hamas and the Arab and Muslim world, which I think the president did brilliantly with his team. So those two things produced the hostages," Netanyahu said.

Vance also championed the Gaza deal's role as a "critical piece in unlocking the Abraham Accords" -- a Trump administration plan to build relations between Israel and its former foes in the Arab world.

- 'Very, very fragile' -

Israel responded to its soldiers' deaths on Sunday with an intense wave of bombings that the Hamas-run territory's health ministry said killed 45 Palestinians. Hamas denies any role in the killings.

Despite the violence, Hamas has continued to hand over the remains of deceased hostages in small numbers as part of the ceasefire deal, and Palestinians have welcomed the truce, their cities lying in ruins.

Displaced civilian Imran Skeik, 34, living in a tent in Al-Saraya Square in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City, told AFP: "The situation is much better -- the war has stopped, and there are no sounds of bombs and shelling like before.

"We hope the ceasefire continues and that Israel and Hamas both stick to it. We've started to get some rest, but there are still many problems. Will we have to stay in tents -- another kind of suffering?"

- Hostage remains -

The Israeli military said Wednesday the remains of two more hostages returned the day before had been identified as Aryeh Zalmanovich and Master Sergeant Tamir Adar.

Zalmanovich, 85 at the time of his death, was abducted from his home in kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity on November 17, 2023, the military said.

The soldier Adar, 38 when he died, was killed while fighting to defend Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken captive, it said.

The militants have now released 15 of the 28 hostage bodies pledged to be returned under the deal, but Hamas has said the search is hampered by the level of destruction in the territory.

The war, triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, has killed at least 68,229 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers credible.

Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

F.Leblanc--SMC