British troops have been sent to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza after a request from the US.
The defence secretary, John Healey, announced the deployment of a small number of planning officers, including a senior commander, at an event on Monday night. He said the UK would play an “anchor role”. Ten days ago the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the UK had “no plans” to send soldiers to Gaza.
The commander will work as a deputy in the American-led civil military coordination centre in Israel. It is also expected to include troops from Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Healey told business leaders: “We can contribute to monitoring the ceasefire, but that’s likely to be led by others.
“We’ve also, in response to the American request, we put a first-rate, two-star officer into the civilian and military command as a deputy commander. So, Britain will play an anchor role.”
He said the UK would “contribute the specialist experience and skills where we can” without playing a leading role, adding: “We will play our part.”
The Times reports that the force is not expected to enter Gaza and is understood to be separate to a planned international stabilisation force, who will be given robust powers to control security inside Gaza if a European and US-backed UN security council motion passes.
Gaza’s media office said Israel had violated the ceasefire 80 times and killed at least 80 Palestinian people since the agreement took effect. On Tuesday, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, condemned Israel’s “continued violation” of the ceasefire.
On Sunday, Israel launched lethal airstrikes into Gaza that killed 26 Palestinians after two Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack the army blamed on Hamas. Hamas said it was not responsible because it had not had contact with fighters in the area since communications were cut off in March. The Israeli military later said it had resumed enforcing the ceasefire and both Israel and Hamas have said they are committed to the agreement.
In an attempt to show faith in the agreement, the US vice-president, JD Vance, visited Israel on Tuesday, where he expressed “great optimism” for the truce, calling it “durable” and “going better than expected”.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “A small number of UK planning officers have embedded in the US-led CMCC, civil military coordination centre, including a two-star deputy commander to ensure that the UK remains integrated into the US-led planning efforts for Gaza post-conflict stability.
“The UK continues to work with international partners to support the Gaza ceasefire to see where the UK can best contribute to the peace process.”
