Even as key Arab states condemned the war in the Gaza Strip, they quietly expanded security cooperation with the Israeli military, leaked U.S. documents reveal. Those military ties were thrown into crisis after Israel’s September airstrike in Qatar, but could now play a key role in overseeing the nascent ceasefire in Gaza.
Over the past three years, facilitated by the United States, senior military officials from Israel and six Arab countries came together for a series of planning meetings in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar.
Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of a peace framework that would result in the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. U.S. officials announced on Thursday that 200 U.S. troops would be deployed to Israel to provide support to the ceasefire agreement, and would be joined by soldiers from several of the Arab countries that participated in this long-standing security cooperation.
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