US To Deploy 200 Troops For Gaza Task Force

The United States will deploy 200 troops as part of a joint task force for Gaza stability and to oversee the ceasefire, with no Americans on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, two senior US officials said on Thursday.

The officials said the US troops would develop a joint control center 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.

Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of the US military's Central Command, "will initially have 200 people on the ground. His role will be to oversee, observe, make sure there are no violations," one senior official told reporters.

"Putting Admiral Cooper in the room gave a lot of confidence and security to the Arab countries," they added.

"And therefore it was passed on to Hamas that we were taking a very strong role, or the president was taking a very strong position in standing behind his guaran