<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US Vice President JD Vance downplayed concerns about the fragility of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire while speaking in Israel on Tuesday, even as some Trump administration officials are privately concerned the deal could fall apart, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What we've seen the past week gives me great optimism the ceasefire is going to hold," Vance said at a news conference.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I feel very optimistic. Can I say with 100 per cent certainty that it's going to work? No."</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-conflict-update-ukraine-eu-leaders-accuse-vladimir-putin-of-stalling-reject-land-concessions-for-peace/104d4506-b587-4b98-8efb-7a37adfc21e0"><strong><span>Ukraine and EU leaders reject land concessions for peace</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Vance also declined to put a timeline on both the return of all Israeli hostage remains and Hamas' disarmament, saying it will "take a little bit of time" and that security and humanitarian structures must be implemented in Gaza.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If Hamas doesn't comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen. But I'm not going to do what the president of United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult," Vance said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Vance's presence in the region is meant, at least in part, to ensure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to the US-negotiated deal as some Trump administration officials worry he could work to thwart it.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/israel-hamas-conflict-update-jd-vance-downplays-concerns-over-ceasefire-in-visit-to-israel-as-trump-officials-worry/1d2d69f6-1ad6-45c8-be72-8b6315b8c835" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One US official characterised it as "Bibisitting." Another framed it as a "show of force from the highest-ranking person after the president himself" to make the administration's view clear that the ceasefire needs to be durable enough to "outlast inevitable skirmishes."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The sources added that the general belief among US officials involved in the negotiations is that the truce is most threatened in the short term, which is why the trip needed to happen so soon after Trump's visit just last week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The concerns reached new heights after Israel accused Hamas of carrying out an attack over the weekend that killed two IDF soldiers. Israel responded with waves of airstrikes that killed dozens of people in Gaza.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US officials worked to minimise the fallout of the strikes and ensure the ceasefire was not threatened, the sources said. And while Israel and Hamas each accused the other of violating the deal, both sides ultimately reaffirmed their commitment to the truce.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The vice president said on Tuesday that it is going to be a "constant effort" to "mediate these disagreements as they come up." </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He asserted the trip "had nothing to do with events in the past 48 hours."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Vance was accompanied at the news conference by Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, the key US architects of the deal. The pair are in Israel this week as the administration begins to work on the longer-term goals of the president's 20-point peace plan for the region.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While there, Witkoff told Israel the country's response to violence from Hamas needs to be proportionate to the violation, according to an Israeli source familiar with the matter. Witkoff also emphasised that the next 30 days are crucial for the deal to hold and for talks to enter the second phase, the source said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Israelis, meanwhile, are ramping up pressure on the US to demilitarise Hamas before talks move on to the reconstruction phase, an Israeli official said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>All of this comes as Trump himself has argued both privately and publicly that Sunday's attack on IDF soldiers wasn't the work of Hamas leaders but part of a "rebellion." He has said that some members of Hamas "got very rambunctious," but he believes the group is still committed to the truce and negotiations, the sources said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump did, however, threaten to have the group "eradicated" if ultimately necessary.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The president wrote on social media on Tuesday that "great allies" in and around the Middle East would "welcome the opportunity" to enter Gaza and "straighten [out] Hamas" if they continue to "act badly."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump said he told these unspecified countries "not yet," as "there is still hope that Hamas will do what is right."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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