US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday sought to ease concerns in Israel that the Trump administration was dictating terms to its closest ally in the Middle East, as he and other top US envoys visit Israel this week to support the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“We don’t want a vassal state in Israel, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership, we want an ally,” Vance said alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in response to a reporter’s question about whether Israel was becoming a “protectorate” of the United States.
Netanyahu, who will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, expressed similar sentiments while acknowledging differences of opinion as they push the US-proposed ceasefire deal.
“One week they say Israel controls the United States. One week later they say the United States controls Israel. This is nonsense. We have a partnership, an alliance of partners who share common values and goals,” Netanyahu said.
One concern in Israel is that an international security force in Gaza – planned for in the second phase of the ceasefire – could limit the Israeli army’s ability to take action in the Palestinian territory if it perceives a threat to its own security.
Vance acknowledged that the path to long-term peace is challenging, with the ceasefire less than two weeks old, but tried to maintain the optimistic tone he expressed Tuesday after arriving in Israel.
“We have a very, very difficult task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza to improve the lives of the people of Gaza, but also ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel. That is not easy,” Vance said. “There’s a lot of work to do, but I feel very optimistic about where we are.”
Vance also met with relatives of Israeli hostages. He was accompanied by the US Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump.
UN court rules on aid to Gaza
The International Court of Justice said Wednesday that Israel must allow the U.N. aid agency in Gaza, known as UNRWA, to provide humanitarian assistance to the territory.
The U.N. General Assembly last year asked the Hague-based court to determine Israel’s legal obligations after the country effectively banned the agency, the main aid provider to Gaza, from operating there.
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Israel “has an obligation to accept and facilitate relief plans provided by the United Nations and its entities, including UNRWA,” ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa said.
Israel has denied violating international law, saying the court’s proceedings are biased and the country did not attend hearings in April. UNRWA has faced criticism from Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who claim the group is deeply infiltrated by Hamas.
Questions about the next steps of the ceasefire plan
Uncertainty surrounds the next steps in the ceasefire, including the post-war governance of the territory and the disarmament of Hamas.
Vance said Tuesday that officials are reflecting on the composition of the international security force, mentioning Turkey – with whom Israel has had tense relations in recent years – and Indonesia as countries expected to contribute troops. Vance was flanked by flags of several countries expected to participate, including Germany, Denmark and Jordan.
An Israeli official said the issue of Turkish involvement in security forces was discussed in the meeting between Vance and Netanyahu, and that Netanyahu expressed opposition to the presence of Turkish troops. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing closed diplomatic talks.
Meanwhile, in an apparent effort to embarrass Netanyahu during Vance’s visit, far-right politicians in the Israeli parliament on Wednesday took the symbolic step of giving preliminary approval to a bill that would give Israel authority to annex the occupied West Bank, a move the United States opposes.
The bill passed in a vote of 25 to 24. It is unclear whether the bill has support for a majority in the 120-seat parliament, and Netanyahu has tools to delay or defeat it.
Returns of remains from both sides
Israel said Wednesday it completed the identification of the remains of two more hostages who were handed over Tuesday. Arie Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar were killed at Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants that sparked the war.
Since the ceasefire began on October 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 in Gaza need to be recovered and handed over, a key element of the ceasefire agreement.
In Gaza, the Health Ministry said Wednesday that Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians. This brings the number of Palestinian bodies returned to Gaza to 195, of which 57 have been identified by their families, according to the ministry, which operates under the Hamas-led government.
Dozens of people gathered outside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Wednesday to perform funeral prayers for the bodies of 54 Palestinians who returned since the ceasefire began.
A senior health official in Gaza said some of the bodies showed “evidence of torture” and called for an investigation.
Israel has not provided identification of the bodies or explained their origins. They could include Palestinians who died during the October 7 attack, detainees who died in custody or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops during the war.
Israelis say goodbye to Thai hostage killed in 2023
Israelis were preparing to say goodbye on Wednesday to a Thai farm worker whose body will be repatriated. Sonthaya Oakkharasri died during the attack on October 7, 2023. Her remains were handed over last weekend.
In that attack, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped another 251.
The war between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed records of victims that are generally considered reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Israel has questioned them without paying its own price.
