Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday thanked Pakistan for playing an &quot;important role&quot; in facilitating direct talks between the United States and Iran. Speaking after a European Commission college meeting on the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/oil-surges-stocks-fall-as-trump-says-to-blockade-strait-of-hormuz" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">economic fallout</a> of the conflict, von der Leyen offered a public acknowledgment of Islamabad&#39;s diplomatic contribution. &quot;Allow me to say a word of gratitude to Pakistan for the important role they have played to get to this point,&quot; she said. The remarks came as von der Leyen outlined the severe financial cost of the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/usisrael-war-on-iran-day-45" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Middle East War</a> for the European Union: 22 billion euros ($25.76 billion) in additional fossil fuel import costs in just 44 days. She called for urgent structural reforms to reduce European dependence on Gulf energy. &quot;We also know that negotiations have been stalled now, and we have to see how things go on,&quot;&nbsp;von der Leyen said. The Islamabad Talks The <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-briefs-allies-on-islamabad-talks-urges-ceasefire-adherence" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Islamabad Talks</a> were 21-hour discussions between the United States and Iran that ended inconclusively on April 12, marking the two countries&#39; first direct, high-level meeting since 1979. Pakistan&#39;s role as host drew broad international acclaim. US Vice President Vance said Pakistan had done an &quot;amazing job&quot; bridging the gap and facilitating the historic session. Both delegations met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Chief of Defense Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, during the summit. The United Nations expressed &quot;sincere appreciation&quot; for Pakistan&#39;s role in managing the ceasefire and facilitating what it called the &quot;Islamabad Process.&quot;&nbsp; China hailed the talks as a &quot;window of opportunity&quot; for regional stability.&nbsp; British High Commissioner Jane Marriott credited Pakistan&#39;s &quot;quiet, effective&quot; role in securing the initial ceasefire, while Australian envoy Timothy Kane cited Islamabad&#39;s &quot;tireless efforts&quot; to bring both sides to the table. The European Union &quot;saluted&quot; Pakistan&#39;s leadership in creating a neutral ground for dialogue, and the chancellors of Germany, Italy, and Austria each called Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directly to offer congratulations.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/japanese-pm-appreciates-pakistans-role-in-usiran-ceasefire-talks" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi</a>&nbsp;held a telephonic meeting with Sharif to express Tokyo&#39;s gratitude for Pakistan&#39;s peace-making efforts. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper appreciated Pakistan&rsquo;s constructive role in promoting peace and stability in the region during a telephone call with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. A fragile two-week ceasefire remains in place but is set to expire around April 22. The United States has already announced contingency plans for a naval blockade of Iranian ports should the ceasefire collapse.

College meeting by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the impact of the situation in the Middle East on the European Union on April 13, 2026. (European Commission)

Foreign Affairs

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Pakistan for facilitating talks between the United States and Iran, marking their first direct, high-level engagement since 1979

EC president thanks Pakistan for facilitating US-Iran talks

Ayesha Mir

ISLAMABAD: JD Vance is en route to Islamabad to lead high-stakes peace talks with Iran, a rare diplomatic role for a US vice president that could shape the outcome of negotiations and signal renewed US engagement in the region.

Dossier with Ayesha

JD Vance is en route to Islamabad to lead high-stakes peace talks with Iran, a rare diplomatic role for a US vice president that could shape the outcome of negotiations and signal renewed US engagement in the region.

Anti-war JD Vance leads Iran peace talks in Islamabad

WASHINGTON: It was a war JD Vance never wanted. Now the US vice president has been tasked with ending it. Vance heads to Pakistan this week with orders from President Donald Trump to turn the Iran ceasefire into a lasting peace deal. For the 41-year-old Vance, who has kept a notably low profile during the Middle East conflict, it will be one of the biggest moments of his career. But the man widely regarded as a leading contender in the 2028 US presidential election will face huge challenges too when talks begin Saturday in Islamabad. &quot;I cannot think of a case where the vice president ran formal negotiations like this,&quot; Aaron Wolf Mannes, a lecturer at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and an expert on the American vice presidency&#39;s role in foreign policy, told AFP. &quot;This is high risk, high reward.&quot; Vance built his political brand as an avowed anti-interventionist who wanted to keep America out of any more foreign wars, like in Iraq, where he served as a US Marine. That has made for a difficult balancing act after Trump launched the Iran war on February 28. Vance has publicly backed the conflict but has kept out of the limelight. When the ceasefire was announced, Vance happened to be far away in Hungary, supporting Prime Minister Viktor Orban&#39;s electoral campaign. The New York Times reported this week that in discussions behind closed doors in the weeks before the war, Vance argued against military action, saying it could cause regional chaos and split Trump&#39;s MAGA coalition. But Vance now suddenly finds himself as Trump&#39;s diplomatic closer for an Iran deal. &quot;My key role was, I sat on the phone a lot,&quot; Vance told reporters as he left Hungary this week. &quot;I answered a lot of phone calls. I made a lot of phone calls. And again, I&#39;m happy about where we are.&quot; Announcing the Islamabad talks this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Vance played a &quot;very significant and a key role in this since the very beginning.&quot; Not always diplomatic&nbsp;Vance will be accompanied by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump&#39;s son-in-law Jared Kushner as he becomes the first US vice president to visit Pakistan since Joe Biden in 2011. The White House said Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Kushner &quot;have always been collaborating on these issues.&quot; &quot;The President is optimistic that a deal can be reached that can lead to lasting peace in the Middle East,&quot; Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP. One theory is that the Iranians may view Vance as a more likely partner for diplomacy given his widely reported opposition to the war, and general doubts about US interventionism. After Tehran expressed fury over Israel&#39;s continued attacks on Lebanese cities despite the ceasefire deal, Vance appeared to take a softer tone, saying there may have been a &quot;legitimate misunderstanding&quot; from Iran that Lebanon would be included. He hasn&#39;t always been so diplomatic. A long-term skeptic of support for Ukraine, Vance notoriously kicked off the Oval Office row between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in February 2025. And for the ambitious Vance, a soon-to-be father of four and Catholic convert, politics is always in the background. Since Trump&#39;s return to power, Vance has been unusually prominent in a tough job that is simultaneously one heartbeat away from the presidency yet also, in the words of one former veep, &quot;not worth a bucket of warm spit.&quot; His crucial role in the Iran talks comes against the backdrop of a looming potential battle with Rubio to be the Republican heir to Trump in two years&#39; time. &quot;If he can get something that papers it over without dealing with real issues, that&#39;s probably enough,&quot; said Mannes. &quot;But if nothing good comes of this, it raises questions about his competence, which is not going to help him electorally. And of course Rubio&#39;s right there as a potential rival for 2028.&quot;

Americas

US Vice President JD Vance, once an outspoken critic of foreign wars, now leads Washington’s high-stakes diplomacy with Iran, marking a defining test of his political career and role in shaping a potential peace deal.

Who is JD Vance and why he matters in Iran talks

ISLAMABAD: For a woman who clerked for a US Supreme Court Chief Justice, argued cases at one of America&#39;s top law firms, and graduated from Yale Law School, Usha Vance has spent a surprising amount of the last year being discussed as if she were a decorative part of her husband&#39;s political career. On Tuesday, with the calm efficiency of someone who has cross-examined tougher rooms, she set the record straight.&nbsp; In a sit-down with NBC News, the Second Lady confirmed what her CV had been quietly suggesting all along: she has opinions, they are her own, and they do not always match those of Vice President JD Vance. &ldquo;Groundbreaking stuff,&rdquo; as reported by The Telegraph. She told NBC that some of her views fit neatly into one side of the political spectrum, while others were &quot;way more idiosyncratic,&quot; according to the interview. There was, she noted with the serenity of someone entirely unbothered, &quot;no expectation&quot; the two would &quot;see eye to eye on everything.&quot; When they disagreed, she said, it was &quot;always very productive.&quot; One can only imagine. On whether anyone had pressurized her to think more like her husband, she was succinct. &quot;I was myself in 2014. I can be myself today.&quot; Case closed. No further questions. The interview was not random. It arrives after a year in which the Vance marriage became Washington&#39;s most reliably dramatic subplot. It kicked off in late 2024 when Vance was photographed in what critics generously described as an enthusiastic embrace with Erika Kirk, widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, at a Turning Point USA event, as reported by CNN. The internet filed its theories accordingly. Matters were not helped in November 2025 when Usha turned up to a public event, alongside First Lady Melania Trump, no less, without her wedding ring. The White House handled this with some asperity, explaining that she was a busy mother of three who simply &quot;forgets her ring sometimes,&quot; according to The Telegraph. Vance went on CNN in December to confirm the marriage was &quot;as strong as it&#39;s ever been.&quot; The audience noted his wife was not present for the announcement. Religion, meanwhile, had been doing its own work. At a Turning Point USA event, JD Vance publicly shared his hope that his Hindu wife would eventually convert to Christianity. He defended the comment on X, then deleted the post. Far-right US figures, apparently inspired, began targeting Usha&#39;s Indian heritage directly. Vance issued a furious public defense of his wife, according to the BBC, a defense that required him to denounce the very online ecosystem he had spent years carefully nurturing. The irony was not lost on observers. Neither was this: in March 2025, JD Vance told a crowd in Michigan that because cameras were on, Usha &quot;has to smile and laugh and celebrate&quot; whatever he said, &quot;no matter how crazy,&quot; according to The New York Times. The remark was called sexist by critics. The Vances declined to respond. Usha smiled. She was, it now appears, composing her NBC statement. A registered Democrat until 2014, Usha switched to the Republican Party in 2022 when Vance ran for a US Senate seat in Ohio, according to The Telegraph. She is expecting the couple&#39;s fourth child and will be the first Second Lady to give birth in office since 1870. Netizens spent a year wondering what Usha Vance really thought. On Tuesday, she told them. It was, by all accounts, &quot;very productive.&rdquo;

US Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance exit Air Force Two at Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township, Michigan, on March 18, 2026. (AFP)

Viral

The Yale-trained lawyer went viral after telling NBC News her opinions are her own, pushing back on speculation and proving she’s more than just a 'political spouse.'

Usha Vance: The US Second Lady who can smile, wave – and speak her mind

ROME: Agents from the divisive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will help support US security operations for the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ski-body-blocks-russian-belarusian-athletes-from-2026-winter-olympics" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Winter Olympic</a> Games in Italy next month, a spokesperson told AFP. &quot;At the Olympics, ICE&#39;s Homeland Security Investigations is supporting the US Department of State&#39;s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations,&quot; the agency said in a statement. &quot;All security operations remain under Italian authority.&quot; It added: &quot;Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries.&quot; The potential presence of ICE agents at the February 6-22 Games has sparked huge debate in Italy, following the outcry over the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/second-death-in-minneapolis-crackdown-heaps-pressure-on-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">deaths</a>&nbsp;of two civilians during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Italian authorities initially denied the presence of ICE and then sought to downplay any role, suggesting they would help only in security for the US delegation. US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are attending the opening ceremony in Milan on February 6. On Monday, the president of the northern Lombardy region, which is hosting some of the Olympic events, said their involvement would be limited to monitoring Vance and Rubio. &quot;It will be only in a defensive role, but I am convinced that nothing will happen,&quot; Attilio Fontana told reporters. However, his office then issued a statement saying he did not have any information on their presence, but was responding to a hypothetical question. Thousands of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-ice-agent-shoots-venezuelan-man-amid-record-immigration-enforcement" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">ICE agents</a> have been deployed by President Donald Trump in various US cities to carry out a crackdown on illegal immigration. Their actions have prompted widespread protests, and the recent killings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, on the streets of Minneapolis sparked outrage.

Europe

ICE agents will support US security operations at Italy’s Winter Olympics, officials said, prompting controversy amid recent immigration crackdowns, protests and civilian deaths in the United States.

ICE agents to help with security at Winter Olympics

KIRYAT GAT: US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday called progress in Gaza&rsquo;s fragile ceasefire better than anticipated but acknowledged during an Israel visit the challenges that remain, from disarming Hamas to rebuilding a land devastated by two years of war. Vance noted flareups of violence in recent days but said the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that began on Oct. 10 is going &ldquo;better than I expected.&rdquo; The Trump administration&#39;s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, added that &ldquo;we are exceeding where we thought we would be at this time.&rdquo; They visited a new center in Israel for civilian and military cooperation as questions remain over the long-term plan for peace, including when and how an international security force will deploy to Gaza and who will govern the territory after the war. Vance tried to downplay any idea that his visit &mdash; his first as vice president &mdash; was urgently arranged to keep the ceasefire in place. He said he feels &ldquo;confident that we&rsquo;re going to be in a place where this peace lasts,&rdquo; but warned that if Hamas doesn&rsquo;t cooperate, it will be &ldquo;obliterated.&rdquo; Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law and one of the architects of the ceasefire agreement, noted its complexity: &ldquo;Both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense warfare to now a peacetime posture.&quot; Vance is expected to stay in the region until Thursday and meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. On Tuesday, Netanyahu fired his national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, but gave no reason for the decision. Israeli media said Hanegbi had opposed the renewal of Israel&rsquo;s Gaza offensive in March, and Israel&rsquo;s failed attempt to assassinate Hamas&rsquo; leadership in an airstrike in Qatar in September. In a statement, Hanegbi noted &ldquo;times of disagreement&rdquo; with Netanyahu. Hamas hands over remains of 2 more hostagesLate Tuesday, Israel&rsquo;s military said the remains of two more Gaza hostages had been returned to Israel, where they would be identified. Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over. On his visit to Israel on Tuesday, Vance urged a &ldquo;little bit of patience&rdquo; amid Israeli frustration with Hamas&rsquo; pace of returning the hostages. &ldquo;Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are,&rdquo; Vance said. Israel is releasing 15 Palestinian bodies for the remains of each dead hostage, according to Gaza&rsquo;s Health Ministry. It said on Tuesday that Israel had so far transferred 165 bodies since earlier this month. As he faced journalists&#39; questions over the ceasefire&#39;s next steps, he said &ldquo;a lot of this work is very hard&quot; and urged flexibility. &ldquo;Once we&rsquo;ve got to a point where both the Gazans and our Israeli friends can have some measure of security, then we&rsquo;ll worry about what the long-term governance of Gaza is,&quot; he said. &quot;Let&rsquo;s focus on security, rebuilding, giving people some food and medicine.&rdquo; Although some 200 US troops were recently sent to Israel, Vance emphasized that they would not be on the ground in Gaza. But he said officials are beginning to &quot;conceptualize what that international security force would look like&quot; for the territory. He mentioned Turkey and Indonesia as countries expected to participate. The flags of Jordan, Germany, Britain and Denmark were on the stage where he spoke. Britain said late Tuesday it would send a small contingent of military officers to Israel to assist in monitoring the ceasefire. While the ceasefire has been tested by fighting and mutual accusations of violations, both Israel and Hamas have said they are committed to the deal. Aid into Gaza increases, while prices riseInternational organizations said they were scaling up humanitarian aid entering Gaza, while Hamas-led security forces cracked down against what it called price gouging by private merchants. The World Food Program said it had sent more than 530 trucks into Gaza in the past 10 days, enough to feed nearly half a million people for two weeks. That&#39;s well under the 500 to 600 that entered daily before the war. The WFP also said it had reinstated 26 distribution points across Gaza and hopes to scale up to its previous 145 points as soon as possible. Residents said prices for essential goods soared on Sunday after militants killed two Israeli soldiers and Israel responded with strikes that killed dozens of Palestinians. Israel also threatened to halt humanitarian aid. At a market in the central city of Deir al-Balah, a 25-kilogram (55-pound) package of flour was selling for more than $70 on Sunday, up from about $12 shortly after the ceasefire. By Tuesday, the price was around $30. Mohamed al-Faqawi, a Khan Younis resident, accused merchants of taking advantage of the perilous security situation. &ldquo;They are exploiting us,&rdquo; he said. On Monday, Hamas said its security forces raided shops across Gaza, closing some and forcing merchants to lower prices. Hamas also has allowed aid trucks to move safely and halted looting of deliveries. Nahed Sheheiber, head of Gaza&rsquo;s private truckers&rsquo; union, said there was no stealing aid since the ceasefire started. But other significant challenges remain as Gaza&#39;s financial system is in tatters. With nearly every bank branch and ATM inoperable, people pay exorbitant commissions to a network of cash brokers to get money for daily expenses. On Tuesday, dozens of people in Deir al-Balah spent hours in line at the Bank of Palestine hoping to access their money but were turned away. &ldquo;Without having the bank open and without money, it does not matter that the prices (in the market) have dropped,&rdquo; said Kamilia Al-Ajez. Gaza doctors say bodies returned with signs of tortureA senior health official in Gaza said some bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel bore &ldquo;evidence of torture&rdquo; and called for a United Nations investigation. Dr. Muneer al-Boursh, the health ministry&#39;s general director, said on social media late Monday that some had evidence of being bound with ropes and metal shackles, and had deep wounds and crushed limbs. It was not immediately clear if any of the bodies had been prisoners; they are returned without identification or details on how they died. The bodies could include Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody or bodies taken out of Gaza by Israeli troops during the war. The Israel Prisons Service denied that prisoners had been mistreated, saying it had followed legal procedures and provided medical care and &ldquo;adequate living conditions.&rdquo; Israeli hostages released from Gaza have also reported metal shackles and harsh conditions, including frequent beatings and starvation. In the 2023 attack on Israel that started the war, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people as hostages. The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza&rsquo;s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Middle East

US Vice President JD Vance said Gaza’s ceasefire is progressing better than expected but warned of “very hard” work ahead, including disarming Hamas, rebuilding Gaza, and forming an international security force to maintain peace.

US vice president optimistic about Gaza ceasefire, notes 'very hard' work to come

TEL AVIV: US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday to shore up the fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, following a burst of deadly violence and questions over how to move forward with the plan for long-term peace. Vance was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials and is expected to stay in the region until Thursday. His visit follows Monday&#39;s arrival of White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law. Vance met with them upon landing. Vance is also expected to meet with families of hostages whose remains are still in Gaza and some of the living hostages released last week. Earlier on Tuesday, Witkoff and Kushner met with nine of them. Hamas said it has recovered the remains of two more hostages and planned to hand them over Tuesday evening. The ceasefire took effect on October 10. While it has been tested by fighting on Sunday and mutual accusations of violations, both Israel and Hamas have said they are committed to the deal. Trump has made clear he wants it to succeed. Pressure for the ceasefire&#39;s second phase The head of Egypt&rsquo;s intelligence agency, Maj Gen&nbsp;Hassan Rashad, traveled to Israel on Tuesday to meet with Netanyahu, Witkoff and others over the ceasefire&#39;s implementation, according to Netanyahu&rsquo;s office. The high-level meetings highlight the urgency of launching negotiations for the second phase of the US plan. Hamas negotiators reiterated that the group is committed to ensuring the war &ldquo;ends once and for all.&rdquo; &ldquo;From the day we signed the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement, we were determined and committed to seeing it through to the end,&rdquo; Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, who is in Cairo, told Egypt&rsquo;s Al-Qahera News television late Monday. He said Israel has complied with aid deliveries in the Gaza crossings according to the agreement, but asked mediators to pressure Israel to deliver more shelter, medical supplies and cold-weather items before winter arrives. Israel identifies another body of a hostage Israel confirmed Tuesday that Hamas released the body of Tal Haimi, who was killed in the October 7, 2023 attack. Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel is waiting for Hamas to turn over the remains of 15 hostages. Thirteen have been turned over since the ceasefire began. Under the deal, Israel is releasing 15 bodies for the remains of each dead hostage, according to Gaza&#39;s Health Ministry. It said Israel had transferred the bodies of another 15 Palestinians to Gaza, for a total of 165 since earlier this month. Aid into Gaza increases, while prices rise International organizations said they were scaling up humanitarian aid entering Gaza, while Hamas-led security forces launched a crackdown against what it called price gouging by private merchants. The World Food Program said it had sent more than 530 trucks into Gaza in the past 10 days, enough to feed nearly half a million people for two weeks. That&#39;s still well under the 500 to 600 that entered daily before the war. The WFP also said it had reinstated 26 distribution points and hopes to scale up to its previous 145 points across Gaza as soon as possible. Residents said prices for essential goods soared on Sunday. Israel has threatened to halt humanitarian aid. Mohamed al-Faqawi, a Khan Younis resident, accused merchants of taking advantage of the perilous security situation. &ldquo;Our concern stems from the wicked merchants,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They are exploiting us.&rdquo; On Monday, Hamas-run security forces raided shops across Gaza, closing at least 10 shops and warehouses, and forced merchants to lower prices, according to a unit of Hamas focused on stopping collaboration with Israel and price gouging. Hamas also has imposed more order on the streets, allowing aid trucks to move safely and halting looting of deliveries. Nahed Sheheiber, head of Gaza&rsquo;s private truckers&rsquo; union, said there was no stealing aid since the ceasefire started. &ldquo;Trucks drive safely,&rdquo; he said. Gaza doctors say bodies returned with signs of torture A senior health official in Gaza said some bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel bore &ldquo;evidence of torture&rdquo; and called for a United Nations-launched investigation. So far, only 32 of the bodies have been identified, according to Gaza&#39;s Health Ministry. The ministry&#39;s general director, Dr Muneer al-Boursh, said in a social media post late Monday that some had evidence of being bound with ropes and metal shackles, blindfolds, deep wounds, abrasions, burns and crushed limbs. It was not immediately clear if any of the bodies had been prisoners; they are being returned without identifications or details on how they died. The bodies could include Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody or bodies taken out of Gaza by Israeli troops during the war. The Israel Prisons Service denied that prisoners had been mistreated, saying it had followed legal procedures and provided medical care and &ldquo;adequate living conditions.&rdquo; Israeli hostages released from Gaza have also reported being bound by metal shackles and harsh conditions, including frequent beatings and starvation. The Israel war on Gaza has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza&rsquo;s Health Ministry. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll. Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.

Vice President J.D. Vance arrives at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, October 21, 2025. (AP)

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel to reinforce the Gaza ceasefire, meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and regional officials amid renewed tensions, hostage recoveries, humanitarian challenges, and efforts to advance the second phase of the peace plan.

Articles tagged with "US Vice President JD Vance"