Intensive U.S. Moves in Israel to Ensure Continuation of Gaza Ceasefire

Israel is witnessing this week a series of high-level American visits aimed at consolidating the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and preventing any renewed escalation.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance continues his visit to Israel, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to arrive today (Thursday) to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday. These moves come following the departure of presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

A senior U.S. official, quoted by Reuters, said the goal of these visits is to maintain the momentum of the ceasefire and ensure that all parties adhere to it.

Israeli media described the American activity as an attempt to “restrain Netanyahu,” considering the successive visits of U.S. officials as a form of “direct oversight” to prevent the collapse of the agreement, according to Israel’s Public Broadcasting Corporation and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

On the domestic political front, the Israeli Knesset approved, in a preliminary reading, two draft laws aimed at expanding Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank — one including the Ma’ale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem, and the other seeking to impose sovereignty over the entire West Bank, occupied since 1967.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized these measures, saying they threaten the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

For his part, Vance said that “the Gaza agreement will hold despite challenges,” noting that the process of disarming Hamas “will require considerable time and effort.”

Meanwhile, CNN quoted an Israeli official as saying that Tel Aviv is pressuring Washington to ensure Hamas’s disarmament before the start of the reconstruction phase.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement came into effect on October 10, while Washington and its allies are currently discussing the second phase, which includes reconstruction plans and the deployment of Arab and Islamic forces to maintain stability in Gaza.