\n\tLONDON: The US military is operating surveillance drones over Gaza to monitor the status of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the New York Times reported.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe operation is part of a larger effort to ensure that the two parties abide by the terms of the ceasefire agreement, military officials said.<\/p>\n
\n\tWith Israel\u2019s consent, the drones have been used to monitor ground activity in Gaza, two Israeli military officials and a US defense official told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe drone operators are based at the new Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel. The center was launched last week by US Central Command.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe US has previously flown reconnaissance missions over Gaza in order to locate hostages, but the latest mission highlights a desire to attain independence from Israeli operations, the NYT reported.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Israel-Hamas truce was brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt, and has been strained by recent bouts of violence in Gaza and delays over the exchange of bodies from both sides.<\/p>\n
\n\tTrump administration officials this week said there are concerns within the US government over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu potentially exiting the deal.<\/p>\n
\n\tUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio toured the Civil-Military Coordination Center on Friday, saying: \u201cThere\u2019s going to be ups and downs and twists and turns, but I think we have a lot of reason for healthy optimism about the progress that\u2019s being made.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe center pledged to \u201chelp facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical and security assistance from international counterparts\u201d into Gaza.<\/p>\n
\n\tTimothy Hawkins, a captain and spokesman for Central Command, told Israeli channel i24 this week that the center \u201cincludes an operations floor that enables us to monitor in real time what is happening on the ground in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDaniel B. Shapiro, former US ambassador to Israel, said: \u201cIf there was total transparency and total trust between Israel and the US there wouldn\u2019t be a need for this. But obviously the US wants to eliminate any possibility of misunderstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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