WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (APP): The United States is preparing to deploy up to 200 troops to help monitor a ceasefire and help support a stabilization force in Gaza, USA Today reported Thursday, citing U.S. officials familiar with the planning.
“Up to 200 U.S. personnel, who are already stationed at CENTCOM, will be tasked with monitoring the peace agreement in Israel, and they will work with other international forces on the ground,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The troops will be stationed in Israel and other countries and will act as observers to ensure that there are no violations.
The report also said no U.S. troops are intended to go into Gaza, which has been wracked by two years of deadly Israeli attacks.
More than 66,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and thousands more injured, as famine-like conditions prevail in the besieged enclave with a large number of displaced families sheltering in some areas.
U.S. Central Command’s role will largely be to provide oversight of a joint task force that is likely to include Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish, and UAE armed forces, a senior official added, and help deconflict with Israeli Defence Forces that are currently positioned in Gaza.
Details of the deployment were still being worked out on Oct. 9 when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government formally approved the first phase of a peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump.