US to deploy 200 troops for Gaza task force with no operations on ground

Washington: The United States will deploy 200 troops as part of a joint task force for Gaza stability, with no Americans on the ground in the Palestinian enclave, two senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the 200 would be the core of a task force that would include representatives from Egypt's military, Qatar, Turkey and probably the United Arab Emirates.

The officials said the U.S. troops' exact location had yet to be decided. But they 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 U.S. troops are intended to go into Gaza," said one of the officials.

The officials said it is hoped the Gaza deal, once set into motion, will cool tensions in the region and create conditions for negotiations on more normalization deals between Israel and Arab nations.

U.S. President Donald Trump in his first term brokered what are known as the Abraham Accords, normalization deals between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan.

The officials said Saudi Arabia is a candidate for such an agreement with Israel as are Indonesia, Mauritania, Algeria, Syria and Lebanon.