British troops have been deployed to Israel to aid a US-led task force as they enforce President Donald Trump’s Gaza “peace plan” which has, so far, secured hostage releases but failed to stop Israel killing Palestinians.
The task force, called the “civil military coordination centre”, is also likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE, US officials have said.
British troops are not going into Gaza as it currently stands, however, John Healey, the defence secretary, revealed the deployment barely a week after Yvette Cooper, the new foreign secretary, said the UK had “no plans” to send soldiers at all to occupied Palestine.
A British Major General will work as the deputy to a US commander, who is tasked with running the civil-military coordination centre. The aim is to monitor the ceasefire and help ensure Trump’s plan goes ahead as planned.
The ceasefire deal brokered by Trump between Hamas and Israel has created the “opportunity for a long-term peace”, Mr Healey said.
“We have specialist experience and skills that we have offered to contribute,” he said, answering questions after delivering a lecture on wider defence issues to business leaders at an event in London on Monday evening.
The defence secretary said: “We can contribute to the monitoring of the ceasefire. That is likely to be led by others.
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“We have also, in response to the American request, put a first rate two-star officer into a civilian-military command, as the deputy commander.
The UK deployment comes after a visit by US Vice-President JD Vance to Israel on Tuesday, where he said the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire was “going better than expected”.
Vance also warned that “if Hamas does not co-operate, it will be obliterated”, while refusing to give a deadline for when the Palestinian group must disarm – a part of US proposals yet to be agreed.
The two special US envoys who helped negotiate the ceasefire deal, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, appeared alongside Vance at a news briefing in southern Israel.
One of the points in President Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan included the US working with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary international stabilisation force to be immediately deployed in Gaza.
This point is yet to be agreed between the sides, and would only happen if a total hostage and prisoner exchange was completed.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken as hostages.
At least 68,229 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel’s ongoing ceasefire violations
Palestinians trapped in Gaza have told journalists that they have seen no real change in their lives since the ceasefire, as Israel continues sporadic attacks and blocking aid.
Israel has killed nearly 100 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 230 since the fragile truce came into effect on October 10.
Over a tense period of accusation and counter-accusation, Israel’s army has shot at unarmed Palestinians and bombed Gaza on at least two occasions.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that Hamas had violated the agreement and two of its fighters had killed two Israeli soldiers in Rafah.
Israel then carried out a “massive and extensive wave” of strikes across the Gaza Strip.
According to Al Jazeera, Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it was unaware of any clashes, pointing out that Israel controls the Rafah area, and that the Brigades had no contact with any Palestinian fighters in Rafah.
Despite the violations and continued deaths of Palestinians, the hostage exchange remains ongoing.
