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LONDON: The US military is operating surveillance drones over Gaza to monitor the status of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the New York Times reported.

The operation is part of a larger effort to ensure that the two parties abide by the terms of the ceasefire agreement, military officials said.

With Israel’s consent, the drones have been used to monitor ground activity in Gaza, two Israeli military officials and a US defense official told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.

The drone operators are based at the new Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel. The center was launched last week by US Central Command.

The US has previously flown reconnaissance missions over Gaza in order to locate hostages, but the latest mission highlights a desire to attain independence from Israeli operations, the NYT reported.

The Israel-Hamas truce was brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt, and has been strained by recent bouts of violence in Gaza and delays over the exchange of bodies from both sides.

Trump administration officials this week said there are concerns within the US government over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu potentially exiting the deal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio toured the Civil-Military Coordination Center on Friday, saying: “There’s going to be ups and downs and twists and turns, but I think we have a lot of reason for healthy optimism about the progress that’s being made.”

The center pledged to “help facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical and security assistance from international counterparts” into Gaza.

Timothy Hawkins, a captain and spokesman for Central Command, told Israeli channel i24 this week that the center “includes an operations floor that enables us to monitor in real time what is happening on the ground in Gaza.”

Daniel B. Shapiro, former US ambassador to Israel, said: “If there was total transparency and total trust between Israel and the US there wouldn’t be a need for this. But obviously the US wants to eliminate any possibility of misunderstanding.”

CAIRO: Syria’s telecommunications ministry has signed an agreement for the landing of the first international submarine cable to the country with Barcelona-based Medusa Submarine Cable System, state-run Ikhbariya TV reported on Saturday.
The submarine cable system is intended to connect 12 countries across North Africa and southern Europe, according to Medusa’s website. It will also serve as a corridor connecting the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean and to the Red Sea.
After 14 years of civil war and decades of Western sanctions, Syria’s infrastructure shortfalls include poor Internet connectivity. Many users have to use costly mobile data instead of a wireless connection to get basic tasks done online.
Syria’s new rulers aim to make rapid progress in improving public services after toppling Bashar Assad last December.
A senior Syrian official and a second official told Reuters in June that the government was in talks with regional telecoms companies Zain, Etisalat, STC and Ooredoo for an about $300-million project to develop Syria’s fiber-optic communications network.