Vance in Israel to support Gaza deal

JERUSALEM, Oct 21 (AFP): US Vice President JD Vance landed in Israel on Tuesday to shore up a fragile Gaza ceasefire deal, after President Donald Trump warned Hamas it would be wiped out if it breached the truce.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were already in Tel Aviv, where they met Israeli hostages released by Hamas after two years of captivity in Gaza.

"Welcome to Israel, Vice President Vance," Israel's foreign ministry posted on social media, along with a photo of Vance and his wife stepping off the plane.

"Together, the Promised Land and The Land of the Free, can secure a better future, including the release of the remaining 15 hostages," it added.

Vance is to meet Witkoff, Kushner and US military experts monitoring the truce. According to Israeli media reports he will meet Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday in Jerusalem.

After Israel said Hamas killed two soldiers on Sunday and accused the group of stalling the handover of hostages' bodies, it unleashed a wave of strikes on the territory-later saying it had "renewed enforcement" of the ceasefire.

The United States is now redoubling efforts to cement the fragile Gaza deal Trump helped to broker.

"The dynamic keeps going back and forth," Mairav Zonszein, senior analyst on Israel for the International Crisis Group (ICG), told AFP.

"Trump is on the one hand letting Israel do what it wants, and on the other hand, at the end of the day, he wants the ceasefire to hold," she said.

"Netanyahu is playing both approaches... He's talking about peace and giving peace a chance... And at the same time, he's bombing Gaza and he's trying to condition aid again," she added.

Qatar's emir condemns

'continued violation'

of Gaza ceasefire

The ruler of Qatar, a key mediator for the ongoing Gaza truce, accused Israel of violating the 11-day-old ceasefire on Tuesday after a series of deadly strikes on Hamas positions.

"We reiterate our condemnation of all Israeli violations and practices in Palestine, particularly the transformation of the Gaza Strip an area unfit for human life (and) the continued violation of the ceasefire," Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said in an annual address to the Shura Council legislative body.

Israel returns 15

Palestinian bodies

The Red Cross said it facilitated on Tuesday the transfer of 15 Palestinian bodies from Israel to Gaza as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, taking the total handed over to 165.