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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — As prime U.S. officers and envoys go to Israel this week to attempt to bolster the Gaza ceasefire settlement, Vice President JD Vance sought Wednesday to publicly ease issues inside Israel that the Trump administration was dictating phrases to its closest ally within the area.
“We don’t need in Israel a vassal state, and that’s not what Israel is. We would like a partnership, we wish an ally,” Vance mentioned beside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in response to a reporter’s query about whether or not Israel was changing into a “protectorate” of the U.S.
Netanyahu expressed related sentiments moments earlier, whilst he acknowledged that the allies have variations of opinion as they search to push ahead with a ceasefire settlement that’s lower than two weeks outdated.
“One week they are saying that Israel controls the USA. Every week later they are saying the USA controls Israel. That is hogwash. We now have a partnership, an alliance of companions who share widespread values, widespread objectives,” Netanyahu mentioned.
One space of concern inside Israel is that a global safety pressure in Gaza — envisioned as a part of a second part of the ceasefire — may restrict the Israel navy’s potential to take motion within the territory if it perceives a risk to its personal safety.
Vance acknowledged that the street to a long-term peace is strewn with large hurdles, however on the identical time he tried to keep up the buoyant tone he sounded Tuesday on his arrival to Israel.
“We now have a really, very robust process forward of us, which is to disarm Hamas however rebuild Gaza to make life higher for the folks in Gaza, but additionally to make sure that Hamas is not a risk to our mates in Israel. That’s not straightforward,” Vance mentioned. “There’s a whole lot of work to do, however I really feel very optimistic about the place we’re.”
Vance additionally met with family of Israeli hostages. He was accompanied by U.S. Center East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Netanyahu in Israel on Friday.
Questions abound on subsequent steps of ceasefire plan
Uncertainty stays over the deployment of a global safety pressure in Gaza and who will govern the territory. Vance mentioned Tuesday officers are brainstorming on the composition of the safety pressure, mentioning Turkey and Indonesia as nations anticipated to contribute troops.
Britain can also be sending a small contingent of navy officers to Israel to help in monitoring the ceasefire.
As Vance’s conferences received underway, Israel mentioned it accomplished the identification of the our bodies of two extra hostages that have been handed over by the Pink Cross to the Israeli navy in Gaza on Tuesday.
Authorities recognized the deceased hostages as Arie Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar who have been killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz in the course of the Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas militants, which triggered the two-year warfare.
Because the ceasefire started on Oct. 10, the stays of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. One other 13 nonetheless have to be recovered in Gaza and handed over, a key aspect to the ceasefire settlement.
In Gaza, the Well being Ministry mentioned Wednesday that Israel returned the our bodies of 30 Palestinians. The Pink Cross confirmed that it facilitated the switch consistent with the ceasefire settlement. That brings the entire variety of the our bodies of Palestinians returned to Gaza for burial to 195, solely 57 of whom have been recognized by their households, in response to the Hamas-run ministry.
Funeral prayers for Palestinians
Dozens of individuals, some carrying Palestinian flags, gathered outdoors the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Wednesday for funeral prayers over the our bodies of 54 Palestinians that had been returned from the Oct. 10 begin of the ceasefire.
Mourners, together with paramedics, watched because the prayers have been supplied over the our bodies, clad in white shrouds. The our bodies shall be transported to Gaza’s central metropolis of Deir al-Balah for burial.
A senior well being official in Gaza mentioned a few of our bodies which have been returned bore “proof of torture” and referred to as for an investigation.
Israel has not offered identification for the our bodies or defined their origins. They might embrace Palestinians who died in the course of the Oct. 7 assaults, detainees who died in custody or our bodies that have been taken from Gaza by Israeli troops in the course of the warfare.
Charity says an armed group took over its Gaza facility
A prime Palestinian nongovernmental group that gives psychological well being companies to folks in Gaza mentioned Wednesday that there had been an “armed raid and brutal takeover” of 1 its amenities within the territory final week.
The Gaza Group Psychological Well being Programme mentioned an “armed group” it did not establish stormed the ability in Gaza Metropolis on Oct. 13, seized the constructing, expelled guards by pressure and put up their very own households there.
“This blatant assault and severe crime represents a flagrant violation of all legal guidelines and norms,” the group mentioned.
It was unclear why the group waited greater than every week to report the takeover, but it surely mentioned that though it had made quick requests for authorities to intervene, there had been no “concrete motion” to return the ability “regardless of repeated guarantees to evacuate.”
They urged Palestinian authorities to behave instantly and referred to as on nations sponsoring the ceasefire to “intervene decisively.”
Israelis to bid farewell to a Thai hostage killed on Oct. 7, 2023
Israelis have been set on Wednesday to bid farewell to a Thai farmworker whose physique shall be repatriated to his native Thailand later within the day.
Sonthaya Oakkharasri was killed in the course of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel, and his physique was held in Gaza till it was returned final weekend.
A press release by the Households’ Headquarters for the Return of the Abductees mentioned a gathering shall be held at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to pay final respects to Oakkharasri, calling him a “devoted father and farmer who dreamed of building his personal farm.”
Within the 2023 assault on Israel that began the warfare, Hamas-led militants killed round 1,200 folks, largely civilians, and kidnapped 251 folks as hostages.
The Israel-Hamas warfare has killed greater than 68,000 Palestinians, in response to Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its depend. The ministry maintains detailed casualty information which might be seen as typically dependable by U.N. businesses and unbiased consultants. Israel has disputed them with out offering its personal toll.
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This story was first revealed on Oct. 22, 2025. It was up to date on Oct. 22, 2025 to right that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace didn’t challenge an announcement that mentioned: “We aren’t a protectorate of the USA. Israel is the one that can resolve on its safety.” In response to a reporter’s query about whether or not Israel was a “protectorate,” Netanyahu referred to as the notion “hogwash.”
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Comply with AP’s warfare protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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