Palestinian girls play on a mattress abandoned amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday. — AFP LONDON, Oct 22 (BBC): A small number of British planning officers has been sent to Israel to join a US-led multinational taskforce to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
The taskforce, called the civil military coordination centre, is also likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE, US officials have previously said.
British troops are not going into Gaza, as it currently stands, and they are not being sent into a combat zone. The Israeli government has approved the first phase of a Gaza deal with Hamas, which has led to a ceasefire and the release of hostages and prisoners.
Earlier this month, American officials said up to 200 US troops already based in the Middle East would be moved to Israel to support the taskforce.
They said it would be led by US Central Command (Centcom) based in the region, and was intended to oversee the progress of the ceasefire agreement and also help coordinate humanitarian assistance.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the MoD said 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".
In a speech at Mansion House on Monday, Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK had sent a senior commander to deputise for a US commander tasked with running the centre in Israel, following an American request.
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