 "Gabbard visits US ceasefire monitoring centre in Israel as Gaza deal faces uncertainty")
US Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard visited an American-run Civil Military Coordination Center in Israel’s Kiryat Gat, set up to monitor the on-ground situation of the ceasefire.
Speaking to Fox News, Gabbard said that 16 countries and 20 NGOs are currently operating the Kiryat Gat headquarter by sharing intelligence, which is the purpose of her visit to Israel. “Intelligence supports not only security, and achieving lasting peace and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians,” she said.
Gabbard, who is likely to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow, is the latest high-ranking US official to visit Israel in the past couple of weeks after US Vice President JD Vance, State Secretary Marco Rubio and Middle East Advisor Steve Witkoff.
US flying drones over Gaza
The US has begun flying surveillance drones over the Gaza Strip to ensure that both Israel and Hamas are abiding by the terms of the ceasefire, which is hanging by a thread after last week’s Israeli attacks in the region.
Two Israeli military officials and a US defence official have told the New York Times that the surveillance drones have been flying to monitor the ground situation in Gaza with the consent of Israel.
The officials added that the drones have been deployed to support the tasks of a new Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel, established last week by the US Central Command, to keep the ceasefire efforts in check.
While the US military has previously used drones over Gaza to help locate hostages, its latest reconnaissance missions indicate that American officials now seek an independent understanding of conditions inside the territory, separate from Israel’s assessments.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsLatest on ceasefire
Israel returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians to Gaza on Monday, bringing the total number handed over under the ceasefire deal to 270, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.
Under a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.
Following forensic identification, Israel confirmed Monday that the remains handed over by Hamas the day before belonged to three hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.
The remains were those of American-Israeli Captain Omer Neutra, 21 years old at the time of his abduction, Corporal Oz Daniel, 19, and Colonel Assaf Hamami, 40, the highest-ranking officer killed by Hamas.
With inputs from agencies
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