Trump's deputy arrives in Israel and diplomatic efforts to solidify the ceasefire in Gaza.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance arrived in Israel today, Tuesday, for a two-day visit to discuss solidifying the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

This visit comes a day after U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Tel Aviv, where they met with Israelis who were released as part of a prisoner exchange agreement facilitated by the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.

In a related context, the Cairo News Channel reported that the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, will head to Israel today to discuss mechanisms for solidifying the ceasefire and ensuring the implementation of the exchange agreement's terms.

The families of the Israeli prisoners stated in a statement that Witkoff and Kushner met in Tel Aviv with nine survivors who were released last week after more than two years of detention in Gaza, noting that the meeting addressed ways to recover the remaining bodies of the prisoners.

The statement added that the former prisoners thanked the U.S. officials for their "pivotal role in concluding the agreement" and expressed their gratitude to President Donald Trump for placing the issue of their release "at the top of his priorities."

Witkoff confirmed, according to the statement, the United States' commitment "to continue efforts until all remaining prisoners' bodies are recovered."

Hamas had released 20 living Israeli prisoners on October 13 in exchange for the release of about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in addition to halting the genocide in Gaza, which erupted on October 7, 2023, resulting in over 68,000 deaths and 229,000 injuries, most of whom are women and children, and the destruction of about 90% of the civilian infrastructure in the region.

Since then, Israel has announced the receipt of 14 bodies of Israeli prisoners, while the movement claims it needs "time and special equipment" to extract the remaining bodies from under the rubble.