WASHINGTON — The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) will oversee the initial stages of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) deployment into the Gaza Strip — with three or four other nations expected to contribute troops to an initial 200-man operation.
Navy Adm. Brad Cooper will “initially have 200 people on the ground” — none of them Americans, US officials told reporters on a White House-organized call shortly after President Trump deflected questions on the composition of the peacekeeping force.
“His role will be to oversee, observe, make sure there are no violations or incursions — everybody is worried about the other side. So much of this is going to be oversight,” one US official said.
“Embedded in his team of 200 people will be probably a bunch of people from the Egyptian armed forces who will help, the Qatari armed forces who will help, as well as the Turks and probably the Emiratis. The notion is to make it collegial.”
A second official emphasized that “no US troops are intended to go into Gaza.”
The official said that CENTCOM’s role will be setting up a “command room” to coordinate the deployment of the Arab troops and deconfliction with Israel’s military.
“The responsibility will be to keep the Israelis informed of what they’re seeing, to keep the Egyptians, the Qataris and the Turks informed about what they’re seeing, to come up with better security plans,” the official said.
Cooper attended talks that led to Wednesday’s diplomatic breakthrough involving a cease-fire and hostage release agreement.
“We’re already talking to multiple governments about standing up that ISF force. I think with Admiral Cooper, it’s going to become a lot easier. He walked into the room at the first meeting and literally said, ‘I can have a command room up and running in two weeks,’” the official said, adding that “we’re going to be working [Friday] to try to figure out the exact location” of the CENTCOM-run command room.
