WASHINGTON: The United States will deploy 200 troops as part of a joint Gaza stability task force, with no Americans on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, two senior U.S. officials said Thursday.
The officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the 200 would be the core of a task force that would include representatives from the Egyptian military, Qatar, Turkey and probably the United Arab Emirates.
Officials said the exact location of U.S. troops had not yet been decided. But they would develop a joint control center and integrate other security forces that would work in Gaza to coordinate with Israeli forces to avoid clashes.
“No American troops are expected to enter Gaza,” one of the officials said.
In response to a social media post, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that up to 200 existing CENTCOM members would monitor the Gaza ceasefire alongside international forces.
The White House spokesperson’s clarification concerns the first phase of a US-brokered deal between Israel and Hamas announced by President Trump on October 8, 2025, which includes the release of hostages and Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza, as approved by the Israeli Cabinet earlier in the day.
Officials said they hoped the Gaza deal, once implemented, would ease tensions in the region and create conditions for negotiations on more normalization deals between Israel and Arab countries.
US President Donald Trump, during his first term, negotiated the so-called Abraham Accords – normalization agreements between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan.
Officials said Saudi Arabia was a candidate for such a deal with Israel, as were Indonesia, Mauritania, Algeria, Syria and Lebanon.
