US troops set to start operations at Israeli military base to monitor Gaza ceasefire deal: Report

ISTANBUL

US troops will begin operations at an Israeli military base on Sunday to monitor the implementation of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media said.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that at least 200 US troops will be stationed at Hatzor Air Base in southern Israel under a monitoring task force.

There was no immediate confirmation from US or Israeli authorities of the report.

An Israeli security official told Channel 12 that further troop withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was not under discussion at this stage.

However, another official said that US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his team have begun working on maps for the upcoming withdrawal from the territory.

Witkoff said on X on Saturday that he, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Admiral Bradley Cooper, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Gaza “to verify Israel’s compliance with Phase I of the agreement.”

Israeli media said that Witkoff’s visit to Gaza aimed at reviewing the deployment locations of a multinational task force that will be made up of troops from Islamic, Arab, and European countries.

The multinational force will be deployed between the urban areas from where Israeli forces withdraw and Gaza’s border with Israel.

"Under the agreement, the Israeli army will not carry out any further withdrawal until the International Stabilization Force enters Gaza,” the channel said, noting that the deployment of the multinational force in Gaza is likely to take weeks.

The formation of the force is expected to be discussed during Monday’s Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit in Egypt, as Arab countries demand the UN Security Council determine the force’s mandate, amid Israeli opposition to such a move on claims that it will restrict its military freedom of action.

Monday’s peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh will be co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with the attendance of more than 20 countries.

The summit seeks to “end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East, and usher in a new phase of regional security and stability,” the Egyptian presidency said.

Trump announced Wednesday that Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a 20-point plan he laid out Sept. 29 to bring a ceasefire to Gaza, release all Israeli captives being held there in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip. The first phase of the deal came into force on Friday.

A second phase of the plan calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a multinational force, and the disarmament of Hamas.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 67,600 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.