The official said that Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command (Centcom), will have 200 people on the ground as parties work to get the deal implemented.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later posted on the social platform X that the U.S. forces involved are already stationed at Centcom.
A second U.S. official clarified that no U.S. troops are expected to go into Gaza. Officials said they were still working to determine the exact location of their deployment.
The first U.S. official said Cooper’s role will be to “oversee, observe, make sure there are no violations, incursions … much of this is going to be oversight.”
Within Cooper’s team of 200 people will be members of the Egyptian armed forces, the Qatari armed forces, Turkish forces and the Emirati forces, a U.S. official said.
The Centcom forces are expected to help establish a joint control center in Israel that will help oversee the implementation of a peace deal that President Trump announced on Wednesday night.
The deal is expected to result in the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza, as well as the release of hostages who have been held since the October 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser in Trump’s first term, have led talks in the Middle East in recent days with leaders in Egypt and Israel to ensure the deal is finalized and carried out.
Read the full report at thehill.com.
