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Middle East conflict

US vice president sees Hamas’ disarmament, Gaza reconstruction as 'tough task'

According to JD Vance, the Gaza ceasefire deal "is a critical piece of unlocking the Abraham Accords" on normalizing Israel’s relations with Arab countries

TEL AVIV, October 22. /TASS/. It is going to be a tough task to disarm the Palestinian movement Hamas and rebuild the Gaza Strip, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

"We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas, to rebuild Gaza, to make life better for the people in Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel," Vance said.

According to him, the Gaza ceasefire deal "is a critical piece of unlocking the Abraham Accords" on normalizing Israel’s relations with Arab countries. "What it could allow is an alliance structure in the Middle East," the US vice president emphasized.

On Wednesday, Vance also held a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

On October 6, the delegations of Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas resumed indirect talks to resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip through the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, the US and Turkey. On October 9, the parties to the conflict signed an agreement on the first phase of a peace plan floated by US President Donald Trump. The Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect on October 10.

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