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The British army will send a senior commander and a small number of troops to support Gaza ceasefire enforcement efforts led by the US, the defence ministry has said. Attempts to stabilise a fragile ceasefire have been stepped up by mediators, including the US, Egypt and Qatar, as they look to push forward US president Donald Trump’s 20-point plan. A “small number of UK planning officers” have joined the Civil-Military Coordination Centre, or CMCC, including a two-star officer who will assume the role of deputy commander, Mr Healey told business leaders at an event in London, according to Sky News. The UK defence ministry said in a statement that the deployment would ensure the UK remained involved in US-led plans for a post-conflict settlement in Gaza. Mr Healey said the UK has “specialist experience and skills that we have offered to contribute”, and that while the UK will contribute, efforts will be “led by others”. “We have also, in response to the American request, put a first-rate two-star officer into a civilian-military command, as the deputy commander,” he added. “So Britain will play an anchor role, contribute the specialist experience and skills where we can. We don’t expect to be leading... but we will play our part.” The US has said it will provide up to 200 troops to support CMCC, but they will not be actively deployed into Gaza itself. The CMCC will be introduced to ensure security in Gaza, although its composition and legal status are yet to be agreed. US officials have said they are also speaking to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute. There are growing concerns about the ceasefire in Gaza, which over the weekend appeared at risk of collapse when the Israeli military unleashed a wave of military strikes across Gaza, killing dozens, as both sides accused each other of breaching the terms of the truce. Washington has sent US officials to Gaza as they look to progress the ceasefire deal, which Israel and Mr Trump said had been resumed on Sunday evening. On Tuesday, the US president again warned Hamas to “do what is right” and thanked the countries that are assisting with ceasefire enforcement. He said in a post on Truth Social: “If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL! I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help.” US vice-president JD Vance landed in Israel for a two-day visit. In a press conference on Tuesday, he reiterated Mr Trump’s warning a day earlier that Hamas needs to “behave” or face “severe repercussions”. He also claimed the implementation of the ceasefire was going “better than expected” and that the Israeli government had been “remarkably helpful”. The vice-president urged a “little bit of patience” over Hamas’s return of the remaining dead hostages’ bodies in Gaza, adding that the bodies have proven “difficult” to locate. Hamas said it would hand over the bodies of two more deceased hostages at 9pm local time on Tuesday (7pm BST). The Israeli military has said the Red Cross has collected the two bodies and is on its way to transfer it to troops in Gaza. If completed, the handover will bring the number of deceased captives and hostages remaining in Gaza down to 13. Mr Vance downplayed suggestions that he had rushed to Israel in order to keep the ceasefire in place, adding that he feels “confident that we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts”. He is expected to stay in the region until Thursday and meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and one of the architects of the ceasefire agreement, who is also in Israel, noted the complexity of the agreement. “Both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense warfare to now a peacetime posture,” he said in the press conference. US secretary of state Marco Rubio plans to travel to Israel later this week or over the weekend, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing US and Israeli officials.
