US President Donald Trump is set to assign 200 troops stationed in the Middle East to support Israel and help monitor the Gaza peace deal.
The announcement was made after Benjamin Netanyahu’s government formally approved the agreement to return the remaining hostages from Gaza.
A ceasefire will go into effect within 24 hours of the cabinet meeting, when Israeli troops will also begin to withdraw from Gaza along an agreed-upon line.
Hamas will release the remaining living and dead Israeli hostages within 72 hours after that. Once they are returned, Israel will free 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans who have been held since October 7.
Trump said earlier he expected to travel to the Middle East on Sunday to celebrate the first phase of the peace deal and be there for the release of hostages by Hamas.
In the first details of how the truce will be enforced, sources revealed that US soldiers will form part of a team that includes allies, NGOs, and private sector groups.
US Central Command will establish a ‘civil-military coordination center’ in Israel that will facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the war-torn territory, US officials told the Associated Press.
The troops will not be sent into Gaza, but will monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the transition to a civilian government in the territory, a source said.
The coordination center will be staffed by US troops who have expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics and engineering, said the official.
American soldiers have already started to arrive and further forces will travel to the region over the weekend to begin planning and efforts to establish the center.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said the agreement between Israel and the Palestinian armed group had ‘ended the war in Gaza.’
The US leader added that ‘nobody’s going to be forced to leave’ the Palestinian territory under his 20-point peace plan, which formed the basis for indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Egypt.
Netanyahu convened Israel’s security cabinet on Thursday to vote on the deal after Hamas said it would accept and welcomed the end of the two-year war.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner took part in the Israeli government’s meeting.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement: ‘The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased.’
