Vice President JD Vance praised President Donald Trump for what he called "very deliberate and consequential diplomacy" that he argued helped pave the way toward a potential peace deal in Gaza.
"He actually broke the mold," Vance told NBC News' "Meet the Press." "Instead of doing diplomacy the same old way that had failed for 30 or 40 years, he gave people unusual authority to go get a peace deal done."
In a separate interview Sunday, Vance confirmed to ABC News that the administration is expecting 20 hostages to be released.
"Of course you don't know until you see these people alive," Vance said. "But thank God we expect to see them alive here in the next 24 hours, probably early tomorrow morning, U.S. time, which will be later in the day, of course, in Israel."
Vance noted that a rally in Israel this week highlighted the contrast in how the crowd reacted to different names.
While boos followed a mention of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cheers erupted when Trump's name was mentioned by special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Vance said the reaction reflected Trump's decision to "break the mold" of traditional diplomacy by empowering nontraditional envoys like Witkoff and Jared Kushner to work directly with Israeli and Gulf Arab leaders.
Vance argued that the Trump administration's approach helped unite Israel and Gulf states behind shared objectives: bringing hostages home and ending the war.
"This was very hard. It required a lot of work," Vance told host Kristen Welker. "But I believe we are on the cusp of peace in Gaza for the first time in a very long time."
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is due by noon on Monday to release the remaining hostages, taken captive on October 7, 2023, when the group's militants launched the surprise attack on Israel that ignited the war.
Israel's hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch on Thursday said a task force would be formed to help find the remains of any dead hostages that Hamas could not locate.
Trump is due to arrive in Israel on Monday to address the Knesset, the parliament, before traveling to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt for a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war.
Witkoff and Jared Kushner addressed a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday, which many Israelis hoped would be the final one urging the release of hostages and end to the war.
The United States, along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, mediated what has been described as a first phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas and prisoners and detainees by Israel.
"For two years we (have been) waiting for this day for this moment... All of us feel happy for the family, for the hostages, that finally .. we will see them," said demonstrator Dalia Yosef, thanking Trump.
Material from Reuters wire service was used in this story.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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