U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to visit Israel next week, marking his first trip to the country since assuming office. His visit coincides with the return of Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, who will also arrive in the region to discuss the continued implementation of the Gaza ceasefire deal and the recovery of hostages’ remains held by Hamas.
Officials familiar with Witkoff’s team said he has been closely involved in overseeing the agreement’s progress and remains determined to secure the return of all the bodies, including those of several American citizens. “The United States is fully engaged in this effort and has shown no sign of easing off the gas,” one source said.
Vance had originally planned to visit Israel in May, following his trip to Rome for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, but those efforts fell through. His upcoming visit comes amid renewed frustration in Israel over what officials describe as Hamas’ insufficient efforts to return the remains of the fallen hostages, even as the group seeks to portray itself in Arab media as actively searching for them.
Israeli officials said Hamas knows the locations of at least ten more bodies but is deliberately using them as bargaining chips. “Hamas could do more to recover the bodies,” a senior source in Jerusalem said Saturday night, noting that Israel had already provided mediators with coordinates to assist in the search.
In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, claimed the organization “has no interest in keeping the remains of hostages left behind.” In response, the Prime Minister’s Office said: “Hamas was obligated to release all hostages in the first phase — it did not. Hamas knows where our hostages are.”
Meanwhile, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced a rally to be held this evening at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, calling on the government and international mediators to ensure the full implementation of the deal.
“Our duty, as the people of Israel, is to make sure the agreement is honored in full,” the group said. “Any violation must be met with a firm response from both our government and the mediators. A nation that abandons its fallen abandons its future.”
Speakers at the rally will include Einav Zangauker, Orna and Ronen Neutra — the parents of fallen hostage Capt. Omer Neutra — Ayelet Goldin, sister of Lt. Hadar Goldin, Ella Chaimo, wife of fallen hostage Tal Haymi, and Yotam Cohen, brother of released hostage Nimrod Cohen.