Up to 200 US troops already based in the Middle East will be moved to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza, according to US officials.

The US military will establish a multinational taskforce in Israel, known as a civil-military coordination centre, which is likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE, they said.

One senior official said no US forces will enter Gaza, adding that the American role was to create a Joint Control Center which will “integrate” the multinational force going in.

The taskforce will be led by US Central Command (Centcom) based in the region, and is intended to oversee the progress of the ceasefire agreement and also help coordinate humanitarian assistance.

Thousands of displaced people have begun walking north along al-Rashid street towards Gaza City following the beginning of the ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops.

What they will be returning to is the widespread destruction brought about by two years of war.

According to a satellite imagery analysis released earlier this month from researchers at Oregon State University, 198,883 buildings in the Gaza Strip are thought to have been damaged since the start of the war.

Destruction of buildings can be seen across the territory, with Gaza City one of the worst-hit areas. Researchers estimate that 74% of buildings in the Strip’s largest urban area have likely been damaged since 7 October 2023.

When President Trump announced this ceasefire deal, he hailed it, as he often does, in epic terms. This is more than Gaza, he exclaimed; this is peace in the Middle East.

The reality is far less grand.

Ending, for now, this grievous Gaza war, finally bringing Israeli hostages home in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, is a major achievement which brought enormous relief and joy.

The surprising speed in which this deal was done, the way some details are, even now, still being sorted, underlines how President Trump was in a hurry to get it over the line, and be seen to do it.

But there’s still little detail and no decisions on much more difficult issues: Will Hamas ever give up its guns? Will Israel ever end its military occupation? And what is the political horizon, that vague phrase in President Trump’s 20-point plan which much of the world translates as a Palestinian state – but Israel firmly rejects.

There’s little talk here of peace. At best, it is a calm before yet more storms – unless President Trump, and many others, continue to exert the huge pressure that made this first phase possible.