The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted unnamed Israeli officials as saying that "the United States is planning to build a large military base in the Gaza border area with Israel," and they indicated that the planned American base "will include thousands of soldiers tasked with maintaining the ceasefire," estimating the cost of its establishment at about half a billion dollars.
The newspaper did not specify the exact location of the base, but quoted officials as saying that field teams had begun surveying potential sites for the base. It clarified that the American military presence in Israel was "limited," noting that the base proposal had been raised in recent weeks in meetings between American and Israeli officials.
The newspaper considered the project to be “a major escalation in the scale of American activity in Israel, and it comes amid steps that have already reduced Israel’s operational independence in Gaza, particularly with regard to coordinating humanitarian aid deliveries.”
She said: "After the ceasefire agreement was signed, about 200 American soldiers were deployed to Israel to operate from the U.S. Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel." She added: "The United States also deployed a THAAD missile defense battery during the war, which played a role in intercepting Iranian missile attacks."
The Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) is the first international operational platform established by the US Central Command in Israel to monitor developments in Gaza following the ceasefire agreement.
On October 10, a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel, according to Trump's plan, came into effect.
The Hamas-Israel agreement came two years after a genocidal war waged by Tel Aviv, with American support, on the Gaza Strip since October 8, 2023.
On October 22, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Brad Cooper said the center houses about 200 U.S. troops with expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics and engineering, noting that it will be "vital infrastructure to enable the transition to civilian rule in Gaza."
The Hebrew newspaper quoted researcher and former head of the Palestinian Affairs Department in the Israeli occupation army, Michael Milstein, as saying that "Israel's position as a central actor in Gaza is about to change," stressing that "the Operations Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat is set to oversee most of the activity in Gaza."
Yedioth Ahronoth said that if the base is established, it will be the first large-scale American military facility on Israeli soil, confirming the United States' growing commitment to post-war stabilization efforts in Gaza, and perhaps reshaping the regional balance of control over humanitarian and security operations.
Israeli officials were quoted as saying: "The operations coordination center in Kiryat Gat is expected to take full control of the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza, making the role of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) marginal."
According to a previous statement by the US Central Command, "The center will monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, through an operations room that allows the staff to assess developments in Gaza moment by moment."
The ceasefire agreement ended the genocidal war waged by Israel with American support in Gaza, which resulted in the martyrdom of more than 69,000 Palestinians, and the injury of more than 170,000 others, most of them children and women, and caused destruction to 90% of the civilian infrastructure.