The U.S. launched drones directly over the Gaza Strip after ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas were put in jeopardy due to reasons such as delays in the repatriation of dead hostages and Israeli airstrikes.
In order to prevent the ceasefire from being broken, the results of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace mediation broke and had nothing to do with Israel, and he began his own monitoring of ground activity in the Gaza Strip, guarding the ceasefire.
The New York Times, citing Israeli and U.S. military officials, on Thursday that the U.S. military recently began using surveillance drones over the Gaza Strip.
According to several Israeli and U.S. Defense Department officials, the drone was used to monitor ground activities in the Gaza Strip with Israel's consent.
They explained that the drone surveillance mission was to support the activities of the Center for Military Cooperation (CMCC) established last week in southern Israel.
In the past, the United States has been launching drones over the Gaza Strip in order to grasp the location of the hostages.
However, the New York Times analyzed that the use of surveillance drones this time is different in nature from past cases.
In the past, it was to help Israel's activities, but this time it was to be independent of Israel, and the United States independently understand the situation within the Gaza Strip.
Former U.S. diplomats, defense officials and some Israeli officials said: “The U.S. independent intelligence operation is surprising given the close military ties between the two countries.”
Daniel Shepiro, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East and ambassador to Israel, said: “There is no need for such a move if there is complete trust and transparency between the United States and Israel.”
The background may be distrust of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Several Trump administration officials have told the New York Times anonymously that Netanyahu’s presence inside the government is concerned that it could break the ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was previously suspected by the international community of drawing war to maintain power.
Although he accepted the ceasefire plan under the pressure of President Trump, he had to look at the eyes of the far right within the coalition government that had a negative attitude towards the ceasefire.
The far-right hardliners angered the United States when U.S. Vice President JD Vans visited Israel on the 22nd and initially approved a bill to annex the West Bank.
The merger of the West Bank is an issue that President Trump said on the ceasefire that it is not allowed to woo Arab countries' support, so it is also important to maintain the ceasefire.
Israel's recent massive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in the name of Hamas's breach of the agreement have raised concerns about whether the ceasefire will be broken.
In this regard, President Trump not only sent vice presidents, but also sent Middle East special envoys such as Steve Witkov and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to Israel, pressuring them not to jeopardize the ceasefire.
According to a report by the Times of Israel on the 23rd, US Vice President Vance delivered a speech at the airport after a two-day trip to Israel that day, saying that on the 22nd, the Israeli Knesset passed a bill on extending Israel's sovereignty to the West Bank in a preparatory vote, which offended him and called the vote "very stupid."
In response to questions, U.S. Vice President Vance said that the vote results were "very strange" and "a little confused about it." Vance also said that someone told him that it was a "political gimmick with no practical significance" and "purely symbolic", but "even if it was a political gimmick, it was a very stupid political gimmick, and I personally felt a little insulted about it."
Wans stressed, “The West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. The U.S. government’s policy is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. This will continue to be our policy, and they can do so if anyone wants a symbolic vote, but we are of course dissatisfied with it.”
In addition, the situation in the Gaza Strip was directly monitored.
Timothy Hawkins, spokesman for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), admitted that there was "a lot of effort" to maintain the ceasefire, but the current situation was "very fragile."