Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance were given a rare, high-tech window into the Gaza Strip during a visit Wednesday to IDF headquarters at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, where they used a virtual reality system to “observe” the territory and receive a classified intelligence briefing, according to Israeli officials.

The briefing focused on three key issues at the center of President Donald Trump’s Gaza cease-fire framework: recovering the bodies of slain hostages, disarming Hamas, and demilitarizing Gaza.

Vance was joined by top U.S. officials, including Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper. The session underscored the pivot Trump’s new administration is attempting to achieve in its second term — balancing visible U.S. solidarity with Israel while overseeing the delicate implementation of the Gaza peace plan.

On the Israeli side, the high-level meeting brought together some of the country’s most senior defense and intelligence officials: Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, and Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder.

According to Israeli defense officials, Vance was briefed on the early operational phases of the International Security Force being assembled to stabilize postwar Gaza and oversee the phased disarmament of Hamas terrorists — a key condition of Trump’s peace framework.

The vice president’s visit to the Kirya followed two days of meetings across Israel, including discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of Israel’s war cabinet. It marked one of the most detailed U.S.-Israeli defense exchanges since the cease-fire took hold earlier this month, signaling Washington’s effort to keep Israel closely aligned with its plan even as internal political tensions rise over settlement policy and annexation efforts in the West Bank.

Vance’s use of virtual reality technology — a first for a sitting U.S. vice president in an Israeli military facility — was described by one Israeli official as “a new kind of battlefield diplomacy.” The system, developed by the IDF’s Technological Division, allows users to experience live-mapped terrain and operational environments in real time.

“The goal was to give the vice president a clear sense of the geography, the security challenges, and the ongoing operations in Gaza without having to set foot there,” said an Israeli official familiar with the visit.

The session at the Kirya capped a trip that has seen Vance emphasize the U.S. commitment to ensuring that “the peace is not just holding, but lasting.”

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