American service members are scheduled to arrive by Sunday to supervise the ceasefire’s implementation with Hamas, according to information received.
These U.S. troops, all from the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), will establish the civil-military command center, a senior U.S. official indicated.
A portion of these service members are deploying from the United States, while others are already stationed in the area. The majority belong to the Army.
Their expertise spans logistics, security, engineering, and transportation.
No troops will enter Gaza.
Navy Admiral Brad Cooper, head of CENTCOM, participated in discussions in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, alongside U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, a former White House advisor and son-in-law, as confirmed by a U.S. official.
Admiral Cooper subsequently traveled to Israel and remains in the nation.
Overnight Thursday, the Israeli government endorsed and formalized the initial phase of the Trump-negotiated ceasefire agreement in Gaza, initiating a 24-hour period for troops to pull back to designated locations.
“In adherence to the political leadership’s directives and based on the prevailing situational assessment, the IDF has commenced operational readiness in anticipation of the agreement’s enactment. This process involves ongoing preparations and the establishment of a combat protocol for an imminent transition to modified deployment lines. The IDF maintains its deployment in the region and remains poised for any operational contingency,” the IDF announced on X.
Several hours subsequently, the IDF verified that the ceasefire had taken effect and that operations personnel had positioned themselves “along the updated deployment lines.”
On Friday morning, Witkoff stated that CENTCOM had verified the IDF’s completion of its initial withdrawal phase from Gaza, enabling the ceasefire to become active at noon local time, and initiating Hamas’ 72-hour period for hostage release.
Witkoff reportedly informed mediators that he could establish a command center for ceasefire monitoring within two and a half weeks.
According to individuals engaged in the discussions, CENTCOM’s involvement in overseeing the ceasefire alongside Qatar and Turkey provided substantial reassurance to the parties involved in negotiations.
Rachel Wolf and Yonat Friling contributed to this report.