US Vice President says disarming Hamas is 'tough task ahead'

JERUSALEM - US Vice President JD Vance has stressed on Wednesday that disarming Hamas was a "tough task ahead" and a condition for lasting peace.

"We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza, to make life better for the people of Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel," Vance said during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

While reaffirming the US commitment to this goal, Vance said he has not set a specific deadline for Hamas to disarm. 

The US Vice President said that Washington “is excited to sit down and work together on the Gaza peace plan."

Vance expressed "great optimism" that the truce would hold during a press conference on Tuesday in Kiryat Gat, a city in southern Israel where a US-led mission is monitoring the Gaza ceasefire.