US troops head to Israel to support the Gaza ceasefire, but J.D. Vance vows not to send troops on the ground

US officials told The Associated Press on Thursday 200 soldiers will help with support and monitoring The deal that ended two years of fighting between Hamas and Israel.

US Central Command will establish a “civilian-military coordination center” in Israel to provide logistical and security assistance to help speed up humanitarian access to Gaza.

in Interview on NBC Meet the Press with Kristen WelkerVance sought to clarify the reports and the involvement of American forces.

“We are not planning to put boots on the ground,” he said. “What we already have is US Central Command. We already have people in that region of the world. They will monitor the terms of the ceasefire. They will monitor, and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid.”

Meanwhile, US forces have played a separate peacekeeping role for decades in the region as part of an international mission in the Sinai Peninsula overseeing the implementation of the 1978 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

According to Multinational force and observersIt currently has a strength of 1,163 soldiers from around the world, including 465 from the United States.

The deployment of US troops is a sensitive topic as President Donald Trump focused during his election campaign on ending “forever wars” and keeping the United States out of “endless” conflicts.

While Trump’s diplomacy achieved a breakthrough in the war between Israel and Hamas, the US bombing of Iran in June alarmed some of his supporters who were wary of further military intervention in the Middle East, in the wake of the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Vance, who deployed to Iraq while serving in the Marine Corps, stressed Sunday that US forces would act as ceasefire monitors.

He added: “But the president does not plan to deploy forces on the ground in Israel.”

US officials also told the AP that no US service members will be sent to Gaza. At the same time, forces from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates will be integrated with US forces, which will help coordinate the multinational unit with the Israeli army.

Vance also said on Sunday that Trump would travel to the Middle East to receive Israeli hostages released by Hamas under the terms of a ceasefire negotiated by the president.

“I really think the lesson here is that Donald Trump refused to go down the failed, traditional diplomatic path,” he said. “He cut Trump’s diplomatic path himself. And for that reason, he was successful.”