US Flying Surveillance Drones Over Gaza To Monitor Ceasefire

The White House has promised no boots on the ground in Gaza as part of Trump’s peace plan, which has resulted in a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel holding for two weeks, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have assets in the air.

The United States has begun deploying surveillance drones over the Gaza Strip to verify that both Israel and Hamas are adhering to the ceasefire, according to The New York Times on Saturday.

The American drones are said to be operating over the Strip with Israel’s coordination and approval, but precise locations or flight paths haven’t been disclosed.

The drone flights support the operations of the newly established Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), staffed by some 200 American troops and officers, along with participating allied nations.

The NYT also revealed that the Pentagon had previously used drones to assist the Israeli military in locating hostages in the Strip, or else finding terror cells.

The Pentagon used MQ-9 Reaper drones in Gaza to for these earlier missions. Interestingly the NY Times report actually hints at growing distrust between the US and Israeli sides in terms of implementing the ceasefire:

A former American diplomat and defense official, like some Israeli officials, expressed surprise at the latest U.S. surveillance missions in Gaza, given the two countries’ close military ties.

“This is a very intrusive version of U.S. monitoring on a front where Israel perceives an active threat,” said Daniel B. Shapiro, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama and as a special envoy to Israel on Iran under President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

“If there was total transparency and total trust between Israel and the U.S., there wouldn’t be a need for this,” Mr. Shapiro said. “But obviously the U.S. wants to eliminate any possibility of misunderstanding.”

That distrust was on display also while Vice President JD Vance and other top White House officials were in Israel this week.

Israel’s parliament days ago gave initial approval to a controversial bill that would extend Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, widely viewed as tantamount to full Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory. A Knesset statement said the proposal seeks “to apply the sovereignty of the State of Israel to the territories of Judea and Samaria (West Bank).”

This largely ‘symbolic’ vote angered Vance and the American delegation, as it was seen as a provocation which could sink the ceasefire deal – at a moment they were on the ground inspecting the situation in southern Israel.

Vance denounced the “stupid political stunt” which was an “insult” led by hardliner MPs. But he also said it may have merely been “symbolic” but it was “weird” to do especially while he was still in the country.