The White House confirmed on Thursday that the United States Military is tasking up to 200 U.S. troops currently stationed at U.S. Central Command to monitor the fulfillment of the peace deal President Donald Trump negotiated between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.
On Thursday, NBC News and multiple other news outlets reported that the United States military was preparing to deploy up to 200 troops to Israel to support efforts to stabilize Gaza as part of the fulfillment of the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. NBC News cited two anonymous U.S. officials who claimed that the U.S. troops would be stationed in Israel and would support planning, engineering, transportation, and logistics in the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“They will not be in Gaza,” one of the officials told NBC News. “No U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza.”
READ MORE: Videos: Trump secures major peace deal between Israel, Hamas
On Thursday evening, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared an alert from Fox News, which stated, “BREAKING: US troops headed to Israel to support historic peace deal.” The White House press secretary pushed back against the report, claiming that it was “out of context” and that the U.S. troops were already stationed at U.S. Central Command.
“This is NOT true and taken out of context,” Leavitt wrote. “To be clear: up to 200 U.S. personnel, who are already stationed at CENTCOM, will be tasked with monitoring the peace agreement in Israel, and they will work with other international forces on the ground.”
The report of U.S. military troops monitoring the peace agreement in the Middle East comes after Trump announced on Wednesday that both Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of his administration’s peace plan.
“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” Trump wrote in a statement on Truth Social.
“All Parties will be treated fairly!” Trump added. “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
