Vice President JD Vance reiterated President Donald Trump's promise on Tuesday that the United States would not deploy ground troops to Gaza as radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas continues to test the limits of the ceasefire deal of the ceasefire deal brokered by Israel and the U.S.
Vance attended a meeting with Israeli leaders in the southern part of Israel to talk about the ceasefire and hostage deal, and told reporters during a press conference that he’s “optimistic” the agreement will hold. He then reassured Americans that the administration would not deploy forces to Gaza.
“I think it’s important for Americans to know a couple of things. Number one: there are not going to be American boots on the ground in Gaza,” Vance told reporters. “The President of the United States has made that very clear. All of our military leadership has made that very clear.”
He then said that the U.S. would provide "some useful coordination" and act as a mediator between the Gulf Arab states, Egypt, Turkey, and Israel.
“The only real mediators are the United States of America. That’s the role that we’re going to play [that] I think the American people should be proud of,” Vance continued. “But they should know that there are going to be no American boots on the ground in Gaza.”
.@VP: "There are not going to be American boots on the ground in Gaza. The President of the United States has made that very clear." pic.twitter.com/y0p4cTOPgA
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 21, 2025
Just last week President Trump warned the terrorist organization that if they continue to commit acts of violence in Gaza, we’ll have no choice but to go in and kill them. However, he clarified that he wasn’t referring to the U.S. using its forces to wipe out Hamas.
“I didn’t say who will go in, but somebody will go in,” he explained. “It’s not going to be us. We won’t have to. There are people very close, very nearby that will go in. They’ll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices.”
Not long after the ceasefire took effect and Israel pulled its troops from most of the Gaza Strip, Hamas began publicly executing men it accused of working with Israel and began warring against rival groups. Hamas also broke its promise by refusing to locate and release the remaining deceased hostages.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Vance said, “We know that Hamas has to comply with the deal, and if Hamas doesn’t comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen. But I’m not going to do what the President of the United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult. A lot of this stuff is unpredictable.”
The vice president also said that the U.S. and its partners will keep working to bring home the deceased hostages and rebuild Gaza. He then noted that some of the Arab nations are getting impatient with Hamas and their defiance.
World leaders refuse to acknowledge that the fight against Hamas goes beyond physical acts of violence and war. It's a religious conflict, whether we want to admit that or not. Leaders must address that aspect of the unrest if we hope for lasting peace in the Middle East.
The Koran teaches radical Islamists to make war against all unbelievers in Allah and his prophet, Muhammad. They likely aren't going to listen to reason or an appeal to basic, fundamental principles of decency and humanity. It's the goal of these terrorist groups to bring about the end of the world through jihad. Eschatology is a huge part of their belief system.
You can't expect to reason with people who are this sold out to their religious beliefs. Figuring out a solution to the religious roots of the conflict is far above my pay grade.
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