The US is planning to build a large military base in Israel on the Gaza border, according to a joint report from the Israeli investigative outlet Shomrim and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The report said that the construction of the base would cost about $500 million and would be designed to house thousands of US and international troops tasked with maintaining the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The US has already established a military outpost in southern Israel to oversee the ceasefire, known as the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), but the construction of such a large base would mark a significant escalation of the US military presence. It would also increase the US involvement in Gaza, where Israel is regularly carrying out attacks and killing Palestinians despite the truce deal.
“It’s hard to overstate the significance of building such a base,” an Israeli security official told Shomrim. “Since the Six-Day War, Israel has sought to minimize international involvement in the territories. The establishment of an American base on Israeli soil shows just how determined Washington is to be involved in Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The US has already deployed 200 troops to the CMCC, which has replaced Israel as the “overseer” of humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza, according to a report from The Washington Post. Israel has continued to restrict aid deliveries to Gaza in violation of the ceasefire deal.
Shomrim said that it asked the US Embassy in Jerusalem for a comment on the report and was referred to the US Department of War, which in turn referred to US Central Command. Shomrim said it hasn’t received a response from CENTCOM. Antiwar.com has asked the State Department for a comment on the report and has yet to receive a reply.
Bloomberg later reported that the US military was exploring the possibility of building a “temporary” base capable of housing 10,000 people near Gaza. The report cited a Request for Information document dated October 31 that said the US Navy was seeking a cost estimate for “a temporary, self-sustaining military base of operations capable of supporting 10,000 personnel and providing 10,000 square feet of office space for a period of 12 months.”
In response to the Bloomberg report, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “This story is based on a single piece of paper produced by random people within the military. Such a plan has not been considered or approved by the highest levels of the United States government and should not be deemed as an official plan in the Middle East.”