President Donald Trump will send around 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor Gaza peace deal, US officials said on Thursday.
The soldiers will form part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private sector players.
US Central Command is set to create a ‘civil-military coordination center’ in Israel to assist with organizing humanitarian aid and providing logistical and security support to the conflict-stricken region, according to officials who spoke with the Associated Press.
Trump mentioned he plans to travel to the Middle East on Sunday to commemorate the initial stage of the Gaza agreement and witness the release of hostages by Hamas.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said the agreement between Israel and the Palestinian armed group had ‘ended the war in Gaza.’
The US President emphasized that under his 20-point peace plan, which underpinned indirect talks between Hamas and Israel in Egypt, no one will be compelled to leave the Palestinian region.
He said he hoped to travel to Israel, where he may address parliament, and maybe to Egypt.
‘The hostages are expected to return on Monday or Tuesday. I anticipate being there, and I hope to be present,’ Trump informed reporters in the Oval Office, referring to those taken by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
But Trump said that the bodies of some of the dead hostages would be ‘hard to find.’
Hamas took 251 people hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has devastated the territory and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi previously stated that he had extended an invitation to his US counterpart to participate in a ‘celebration to be held in Egypt’ for the ceasefire’s first phase agreement.
The Republican gave few details about the second phase of the peace deal and the future of Gaza.
In a prior cabinet meeting, Trump noted ‘there will be disarming, there will be pullbacks,’ seemingly alluding to Israel’s demand for Hamas disarmament and the Palestinian group’s calls for Israeli troop withdrawal, though he provided no further details.
He added that Gaza would be ‘slowly redone’ and indicated that Arab states with ‘tremendous wealth’ would help it rebuild, as well as possibly taking part in peacekeeping efforts.
Trump, who in February proposed that the US take over Gaza, also rejected speculation that Palestinians could be forced out of the devastated enclave.
‘Nobody’s going to be forced to leave. No, it’s just the opposite. This is a great plan,’ Trump said.
Trump, however, played down the question of whether he would achieve his long-held dream of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, whose laureate is announced on Friday.
‘I don’t know what they’re going to do, really. But I know this, that nobody in history has solved eight wars in a period of nine months,’ he said in response to a question by an AFP reporter.
His cabinet officials lined up to praise him, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had on Wednesday handed the US president a note during an event saying a deal was imminent.
‘Frankly, I don’t know of any American president in the modern era that could have made this possible,’ Rubio said during the cabinet meeting.
Rubio also hinted at the tough negotiations that led to the agreement, which saw Trump pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rally Arab and Muslim states to lean on Hamas.
‘One day, perhaps the entire story will be told,’ Rubio said.
‘The president had some extraordinary phone calls and meetings that required a high degree of intensity and commitment and made this happen.’
