The US military has begun flying surveillance drones over the Gaza Strip in recent days as part of a broader effort to ensure that both Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization uphold the ceasefire agreement, according to Israeli and American military officials on Friday.
The drones are being used to monitor ground activity in Gaza with Israel’s consent, according to two Israeli military officials and one American defense official, who declined to disclose the drones’ locations.
The three officials said the surveillance missions support a new US military coordination center established last week in southern Israel by US Central Command. The center’s purpose includes monitoring the ceasefire. The deal, brokered earlier this month by American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, has been strained by recent outbreaks of violence in Gaza and ongoing disputes over the exchange of bodies of Israelis and Palestinians killed in the conflict.
The Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters Reuters
Helping locate hostages
Although the US military has previously flown drones over Gaza to help locate hostages, its latest reconnaissance efforts indicate that American officials now seek an independent understanding—separate from Israel’s—of what is happening on the ground.
The US State Department, which oversees efforts to monitor the ceasefire, did not immediately respond to detailed questions about the drones. The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment.
Since Trump’s visit to Israel last week, several high-ranking American officials have visited the country to reinforce the ceasefire agreement, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Several members of the Trump administration, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said this week that there is concern within the administration that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may abandon the deal.
On Friday, Rubio toured the new civil-military coordination center, which includes about 200 American service members. The US military said the center will monitor the ceasefire’s implementation and “help facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical and security aid from international actors” into Gaza. “There will be ups and downs and turns, but I think we have many reasons for cautious optimism about the progress being made,” Rubio said.
Israel and the US are deeply intertwined on security issues. Washington provides Israel with weapons and funding, and the two countries share intelligence. Earlier this year, they also cooperated on airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear sites.
In the early stages of the war, the US used MQ-9 Reaper drones over Gaza to assist in hostage rescue efforts, sharing intelligence from those missions with Israel, including possible locations where hostages were being held.
An American diplomat and a former defense official, along with several Israeli officials, expressed surprise at the latest US surveillance missions in Gaza, given the close military ties between the two countries.
American monitoring
“This is a very intrusive form of American front-line monitoring in an area where Israel perceives an active threat,” said Daniel B. Shapiro, who served as US ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama and as a special envoy for Israel affairs under President Joe Biden. “If there were total transparency and total trust between Israel and the US, this wouldn’t be necessary,” Shapiro said. “But clearly the US wants to eliminate any possibility of misunderstanding.”
Capt. Timothy Hawkins, spokesman for the Pentagon’s Central Command, told Israel’s i24 News on Thursday that the civil-military coordination center includes an operations floor that allows the US to monitor the situation in real time in Gaza. He said officials were “working very hard” to maintain the ceasefire, acknowledging that the situation remains “very fragile.”
