WASHINGTON: The United States is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private sector players, US officials said Thursday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release, said US Central Command is going to establish a “civil-military coordination center” in Israel that will help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the territory wracked by two years of war.
The remarks provide some of the first details on how the ceasefire deal would be monitored and how the US military would have a role in that effort. After Israel and Hamas agreed this week to the first phase of a Trump administration plan to halt the fighting, a litany of questions remain on next steps, including Hamas disarmament, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a future government in the territory.
One of the officials said the new team would help monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the transition to a civilian government in Gaza.
The coordination center will be staffed by about 200 US service members who have expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics and engineering, said the official, who noted that no American troops will be sent into Gaza.
A second official said troops would come from US Central Command as well as other parts of the globe. That official added that the troops already have begun arriving and will continue to travel to the region over the weekend to begin planning and efforts to establish the center.
US sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor ceasefire deal in Gaza
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US sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor ceasefire deal in Gaza
- Troops to man a “civil-military coordination center” based in Israel to help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza
- The US service members will have expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics and engineering, say US officials
Hamas says UN Gaza resolution does not meet Palestinians’ rights
- The UN Security Council voted earlier Monday in favor of a US-drafted resolution bolstering President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan that includes the deployment of an international force and a path to a future Palestinian state
- The statement decried the establishment of an international force whose “mission includes the disarmament” of Palestinian groups in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories : Gaza’s Hamas rulers said they rejected Monday’s UN resolution which calls for an international force to be deployed in the territory, saying it fails to respect the “demands and rights” of the Palestinians.
“This resolution does not meet the level of our Palestinian people’s political and humanitarian demands and rights,” the Islamist militant group said in a statement.
The statement also decried the establishment of an international force whose “mission includes the disarmament” of Palestinian groups in Gaza.
“The resolution imposes an international trusteeship on the Gaza Strip, which our people, its forces, and its constituent groups reject,” the statement continued.
The UN Security Council voted earlier Monday in favor of a US-drafted resolution bolstering President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan that includes the deployment of an international force and a path to a future Palestinian state.
There were 13 votes in favor of the text, which Washington heralded after the vote as “historic and constructive,” with only Russia and China abstaining — but no vetoes.
