Vance: Gaza ceasefire going ‘better than I expected,’ but ‘this is going to take a very, very long time’

Speaking at a press conference at the building in Kiryat Gat housing the US-Israel coordination center for the ceasefire in Gaza, US Vice President JD Vance says that things are going “better than I expected” with the US-backed peace plan.

“We are one week into [US] President [Donald] Trump’s historic peace plan in the Middle East, and things are going, frankly, better than I expected that they were,” Vance says as he announces the opening of the center.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and top Trump adviser Jared Kushner, who were key brokers of the deal and arrived in Israel earlier this week to advance the plan, stand behind him.

“Here at the civilian-military cooperation center, which we are announcing the opening of, you have Israelis and Americans working hand-in-hand to try to begin the plan to rebuild Gaza, to implement a long-term peace, and to actually ensure that you have security forces on the ground in Gaza, not composed of Americans, who can keep the peace over the long term,” Vance continues.

He emphasizes that there is “lots of work left to do” and that “this is going to take a very, very long time,” while praising the efforts of Kushner, Witkoff, and Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the US military’s Central Command, for their efforts on the deal’s implementation.