US to close its flagship Gaza mission as Trump plan stalls

A U.S. military-run body near Gaza that critics say failed in its mission to monitor the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and boost aid flows to besieged Palestinians is set to be shut by the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The ​closing of the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Israel would mark the latest blow to President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, already undermined by repeated Israeli attacks since the October truce and a refusal ‌by Hamas to lay down its arms.

Diplomats said the move, which has not been previously reported, underscores the difficulties facing U.S. efforts to oversee the truce and coordinate on aid, as Israel seizes more Gaza territory and Hamas firms its grip in areas under its control.

The move could add to unease among Washington’s allies, whom Trump encouraged to deploy personnel to the CMCC and commit funds for his Gaza rebuilding plan, effectively on hold since the U.S. launched its joint war with Israel against Iran.

Trump-led board denies CMCC is closing

According to the sources, seven diplomats familiar with CMCC operations, the U.S.-led body’s aid and monitoring responsibilities would soon be handed to a U.S.-commanded international security mission that is meant to deploy to Gaza.

U.S. officials have privately described the move as an overhaul, but diplomats said the International Stabilization Force would in effect take over, ending the CMCC’s role.

A diplomat briefed on the U.S. plan said that the number of U.S. troops working at the revamped ISF would drop to 40 from around 190. The U.S. would seek to replace those troops with civilian staff from other countries, the diplomats said. All of them spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Diplomats say the CMCC lacked authority to enforce the ceasefire or ensure aid, making it unclear whether folding it into the ISF would have much practical effect on the ground.

The Board of Peace denied in a statement posted on social media after the Reuters story was published that the CMCC was closing, without addressing whether the ISF would take over its responsibilities.

Earlier, an official with Trump’s Board of Peace, set up to oversee Gaza policy, declined to comment on the CMCC’s future but said the centre plays a “critical role in ensuring aid deliveries and coordinating efforts” and advancing Trump’s plan.

The White House and the U.S. military’s Middle East command both referred requests for comment to the Board of Peace.

Once the CMCC is folded into the ISF, the body is expected to be rebranded as the International Gaza Support Centre, two of the sources said. It would likely be led by U.S. Major General Jasper Jeffers, the White House-appointed ISF commander.

The ISF was supposed to deploy immediately to Gaza to establish control and maintain security. But that has yet to happen with only a handful of countries having so far pledged troops, and none of them have committed to security roles.

Washington has said U.S. troops would not deploy to Gaza.

The ISF has, however, established a walled‑off annex inside the CMCC, which has been operating from a warehouse in southern Israel, but access to the annex is tightly controlled by U.S. troops who, three sources said, regularly deny entry to representatives from allied countries.

Israeli attacks continue despite ceasefire

The CMCC’s establishment was a key element of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, following a ceasefire meant to halt Israel-Hamas fighting and allow for rebuilding the territory after its pulverization by Israel in two years of fighting.

Dozens of countries, including Germany, France, Britain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, sent personnel including military planners and intelligence officials to the centre as they sought to influence discussions on Gaza’s future.

But with Israel continuing to carry out attacks and pushing its armistice line with Hamas deeper into Gaza, diplomats say the CMCC’s momentum faded. Hamas has also reassumed governance in a coastal slice of Gaza under its control.

Some countries now send representatives as little as once a month, one diplomat said. Another said only a handful of countries regularly showed up.

Israel says its attacks in Gaza aim to stop threats from Hamas or people approaching the armistice line. Palestinians say this is a pretext to subsume more of Gaza in a bid to force them from land they seek for a future state.

More than 800 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire, meant to halt a war that started with the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.

During the fighting, Israel reduced much of Gaza to rubble, displaced nearly the entire 2 million population and ruined infrastructure needed for water distribution, sanitation and electricity.

The CMCC was intended to help ensure aid was delivered to Palestinians in need. Diplomats say aid levels have remained largely stagnant despite an influx of commercial goods entering Gaza, with Israel banning many items that it says can carry dual military and civilian uses.

Those items include poles needed for tents in displaced persons camps and heavy machinery needed to clear rubble.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls access to Gaza, said that 80% of trucks entering Gaza daily carried commercial goods purchased in Israel but that they were intended to supplement humanitarian supplies.

The Board of Peace official said Gaza ultimately needs what they described as “a sustainable civilian administration to truly transform from the years of aid dependency and cycles of violence that have clouded its past.”

据路透社报道，知情人士透露，特朗普政府将关闭一个位于加沙附近的美国军方机构。批评人士称，该机构未能完成监督以色列和哈马斯停火以及增加对被围困巴勒斯坦人的援助的任务。

关闭以色列的军民协调中心将标志着唐纳德·特朗普总统的加沙计划遭受的最新打击，该计划自10月停火以来已因以色列的反复袭击以及哈马斯拒绝放下武器而受到破坏。

外交官表示，这一此前未曾报道过的举动，凸显了美国在监督停火和协调援助方面面临的困难，因为以色列正在夺取更多加沙领土，而哈马斯则在其控制区内巩固了统治。

此举可能会加剧华盛顿盟友的不安，特朗普曾鼓励他们向中央军事指挥中心部署人员，并为他的加沙重建计划提供资金，但自美国与以色列联合对伊朗发动战争以来，该计划实际上已被搁置。

特朗普领导的董事会否认中山城中心将关闭

据消息人士透露，七名熟悉中国军事指挥中心（CMCC）运作的外交官，以及美国领导的该机构的援助和监督职责，将很快移交给一支由美国指挥的国际安全特派团，该特派团计划部署到加沙。

美国官员私下里将此举描述为一次彻底改革，但外交官表示，国际稳定部队实际上将接管，结束中国机械化指挥中心的作用。

一位了解美国计划的外交官表示，在重组后的伊拉克安全部队（ISF）工作的美国士兵人数将从约190人减少到40人。这些外交官称，美国将寻求用来自其他国家的文职人员取代这些士兵。由于未获授权公开谈论此事，所有外交官均要求匿名。

外交官表示，中国军事指挥中心缺乏强制执行停火或确保援助的权力，因此尚不清楚将其并入内部安全部队是否会在实地产生多大实际效果。

在路透社报道发布后，和平委员会在社交媒体上发表声明否认中国军事指挥中心即将关闭，但并未提及国际安全部队是否会接管其职责。

此前，特朗普设立的负责监督加沙政策的和平委员会的一名官员拒绝就中央危机应对中心（CMCC）的未来发表评论，但他表示，该中心在“确保援助物资运送和协调各方努力”以及推进特朗普的计划方面发挥着“关键作用”。

白宫和美国军方中东司令部都将置评请求转给了和平委员会。

两名消息人士称，一旦中国军事指挥中心并入伊拉克安全部队，该机构预计将更名为国际加沙支援中心。该中心很可能由白宫任命的伊拉克安全部队指挥官、美国少将贾斯珀·杰弗斯领导。

以色列安全部队本应立即部署到加沙，以建立控制并维护安全。但迄今为止，只有少数几个国家承诺派遣军队，而且没有一个国家承诺承担安全责任，因此这一目标尚未实现。

华盛顿方面表示，美军不会部署到加沙地带。

然而，以色列安全部队在位于以色列南部仓库的中国军事指挥中心（CMCC）内建立了一个封闭的附属设施，但据三位消息人士称，该附属设施的出入受到美军的严格控制，美军经常拒绝盟国代表进入。

尽管停火，以色列的袭击仍在继续。

中央建设中心的成立是特朗普为加沙提出的 20 点计划的关键要素。此前，以色列和哈马斯达成停火协议，旨在停止战斗，并允许在以色列两年的战斗中摧毁加沙后重建该地区。

包括德国、法国、英国、埃及和阿拉伯联合酋长国在内的数十个国家向该中心派遣了包括军事策划人员和情报官员在内的人员，试图影响有关加沙未来的讨论。

但随着以色列持续发动袭击，并将其与哈马斯划定的停战线进一步推进加沙地带，外交官们表示，中国中共中央的声势已经减弱。哈马斯也重新控制了其所控制的加沙沿海地区。

一位外交官说，现在有些国家一个月只派一次代表。另一位外交官则表示，只有少数几个国家定期出席。

以色列称其在加沙的袭击旨在阻止哈马斯或靠近停火线的人员构成的威胁。巴勒斯坦人则认为这是以色列吞并更多加沙地带的借口，目的是迫使他们离开这片他们寻求建立未来国家的土地。

自停火以来，已有 800 多名巴勒斯坦人和 4 名以色列士兵丧生。该停火旨在结束这场始于 2023 年 10 月 7 日哈马斯领导的对以色列的袭击的战争。

在战斗中，以色列将加沙地带的大部分地区夷为平地，导致近200万人口流离失所，并破坏了供水、卫生和电力等基础设施。

中央物资协调中心（CMCC）旨在确保向有需要的巴勒斯坦人提供援助。外交官表示，尽管大量商业货物涌入加沙，但援助水平基本停滞不前，因为以色列禁止了许多它认为既可用于军事用途又可用于民用的物品。

这些物品包括流离失所者营地搭建帐篷所需的支架和清理瓦砾所需的重型机械。

负责控制加沙地带出入的以色列军事机构 COGAT 表示，每天进入加沙的卡车中有 80% 装载着在以色列购买的商业货物，但这些货物的目的是补充人道主义援助物资。

和平委员会官员表示，加沙最终需要他们所说的“一个可持续的文官政府，才能真正摆脱多年来对援助的依赖和笼罩其过去的暴力循环”。