US forms joint Gaza task force with regional partners

WASHINGTON: The United States will deploy 200 troops as part of a joint task force for Gaza stability, with no Americans on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, two senior US officials said on 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 Egypt’s military, Qatar, Turkey 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.

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.

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 and create conditions for negotiations on more normalisation deals between Israel and Arab nations.

US President Donald Trump, in his first term, brokered what are known as the Abraham Accords — normalisation deals between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan.

The officials said Saudi Arabia is a candidate for such an agreement with Israel, as are Indonesia, Mauritania, Algeria, Syria and Lebanon.