The US 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, non-government organisations and the private sector, American officials said on Thursday evening.
A senior US official told reporters that no American forces would be going into Gaza, but would rather help to establish a "civil-military co-ordination centre" that will help enable the flow of humanitarian aid into the territory, as well as logistics and security assistance.
A defence official told The National that among the 200 or so troops would be strategic planners and experts in logistics, transport and others, mainly from the US army. They would be part of a subsequent phase of the peace deal.
"Phase one is to stop [the two sides] killing each other," the official said.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of the US military's Central Command, will initially oversee the troops. "His role will be to oversee, observe, make sure there are no violations," another official said.
Military officials from Egypt, Turkey and other regional countries would be embedded in the team, an official said.
These are the first details on how the ceasefire deal would be monitored and how the US military would have a role in that.
After Israel and Hamas agreed this week to the first phase of a US administration plan to halt the fighting, questions remained 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.
Part of the 20-point Gaza peace plan, proposed by US President Donald Trump, is the formation of an "International Stabilisation Force", which will be posted in Gaza with support from Arab states.
The force will develop and train a Palestinian police force, which will become a long-term internal security body, working to ensure security with Israel and neighbouring Egypt.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
