American troops will oversee the Gaza ceasefire, according to senior US officials.

The next phase in Donald Trump’s peace deal will be coordinated by 200 American troops who will work as part of an international force monitoring the hostage release.

They will not be on the ground in Gaza but will likely work with Turkish, Qatari, and Egyptian forces, the officials said.

The operation will be led by Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command (Centcom), who oversees American military operations across the Middle East.

“He’ll initially have 200 people on the ground,” said one official during a briefing call with reporters on Thursday.

“[Adml Cooper’s] role will be to oversee, observe, make sure there are no violations, incursions,” he said. “Everybody’s worried about the other side. So much of this is going to be oversight.”

A second official said the location of the troops was still being decided.

On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, stressed US troops were not being sent to Israel.

“To be clear: up to 200 US personnel, who are already stationed at Centcom, will be tasked with monitoring the peace agreement in Israel, and they will work with other international forces on the ground,” she said.

They will set up a joint control centre which will “integrate” the multinational force.

It is the first step in forming an international stabilisation force (ISF), one of the key elements of Mr trump’s 20-point plan.

Adml Cooper joined US negotiators in Egypt this week.

“Putting Admiral Cooper in the room gave a lot of confidence and security to the Arab countries,” said a US official, who was present.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the “first phase” of his peace plan after 20 hours of talks.

He plans to travel to the region when some 20 surviving Israelis are released by Hamas as part of the agreement.

The Israeli military announced that a ceasefire had come into effect in Gaza on Friday, hours after the country’s cabinet approved the deal.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said next steps would include Hamas disarming.

“If this is achieved the easy way — so be it. If not — it will be achieved the hard way,” he said.