WASHINGTON: The United States will deploy 200 troops as part of a joint task force for Gaza stability, without stationing any American personnel inside the Palestinian enclave, two senior US officials said on Thursday.
The officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity as cited by Reuters, said the 200 would be the core of a task force that would include representatives from Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye, and probably the United Arab Emirates.
The officials said the US troops’ exact location had yet to be decided. But they would develop a joint control centre and integrate other security forces that will work in Gaza to coordinate with Israeli forces to avoid clashes.
“No US troops are intended to go into Gaza,” said one of the officials, as quoted by Reuters.
Responding to a social media post, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that up to 200 existing CENTCOM personnel will monitor a Gaza ceasefire alongside international forces.
This is NOT true and taken out of context.
To be clear: 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. https://t.co/V8UoUSrjA5
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) October 9, 2025
The clarification from the White House spokesperson addresses the first phase of a US-brokered Israel-Hamas deal announced by President Trump on October 8, 2025, which includes hostage releases and partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as approved by Israel’s cabinet earlier today.
The officials said it is hoped the Gaza deal, once set into motion, will cool tensions in the region.
Israeli government ratified a ceasefire with Hamas on Friday, clearing the way to end the devastating bombardment campaign in Gaza and free Israeli hostages held there within 72 hours after that.
The Israeli cabinet approved the deal early Friday morning, roughly 24 hours after mediators announced the agreement, which calls for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the start of a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza.
“The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s English-language X account said.
