US troops began arriving in Israel overnight as part of a mission to help implement and oversee the Gaza ceasefire agreement, a source was quoted as saying by ABC News. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the US Central Command, arrived in Israel on Thursday.According to the report, the 200-member team is set to arrive over the weekend, traveling from the US and other bases across the Middle East. Officials stated that US personnel will help establish a joint control center, coordinate the various security forces entering Gaza, and liaise with the Israel Defense Forces.Officials said US Central Command will set up a “civil-military coordination center” in Israel to help manage the delivery of humanitarian aid, as well as provide logistical and security support to the region devastated by two years of conflict, as cited by AP. The US role is to establish a Joint Control Center to coordinate and integrate the multinational force entering Gaza.Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish, and likely Emirati military officials will be part of the team, which is expected to be based in Egypt. Officials have emphasized that no US troops are planned to enter Gaza.
Gazans on their way home
Thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning on foot to the ruins of their homes in Gaza on Friday, following a ceasefire and the initial Israeli withdrawal under the first phase of a war-ending agreement.A long column of people moved north along the coastal road toward Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center, which had faced heavy attacks in one of Israel’s most intense offensives of the conflict.“Thank God my house is still standing,” Ismail Zayda, a resident of Gaza City was quoted as saying by Reuters. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbours’ houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone.”Although a ceasefire was in place, Israeli troops remained in roughly half of the Gaza Strip, with certain areas still off-limits, an Israeli military spokesperson warned.Palestinians heading north reported walking for hours under the watch of Israeli drones and hearing distant explosions.“I managed to reach the outskirts of Beit Lahia but could not move toward the centre because of the danger still present. Drones started firing at anyone who advanced toward the city,” Zuheir, a 34-year-old nurse, was quoted as saying by the Guardian. Palestinian health authorities reported that medical teams recovered 100 bodies across Gaza following the Israeli withdrawal.As residents returned home, uncertainty remained over whether the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, the most significant step yet toward ending two years of conflict, would result in lasting peace under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.
