Palestinians sidelined from planning future of Gaza at US-led CMCC in Israel

Palestinians are absent from decision-making at a centre making plans for a post-war Gaza, which is staffed by American, Israeli, and Arab military and intelligence officers, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The US set up the Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) in southern Israel which is tasked with overseeing the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Donald Trump, which went into effect on 10 October.

The centre includes intelligence officers from the United States and Israel, and Arab countries that were involved in mediating a deal between Tel Aviv and Hamas. While their mission is to help monitor the ceasefire, they are also working on a plan for Gaza’s future.

The first phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan saw Israel release just under 2,000 Palestinian detainees - less than 20% of the total number it holds - in exchange for some 50 living and deceased captives that were being held in Gaza. Hamas is still looking for two more captive bodies to hand over

The rest of the plan, still under discussion and dispute, includes disarming Hamas, setting up a "Board of Peace" to be chaired personally by Trump to run Gaza, establishing a local police force, forming an international peacekeeping mission, and rebuilding the devastated enclave.

But according to the NYT, Palestinian officials are being sidelined from this strategic policymaking at the CMCC, and there is no "formal" Palestinian representation at the facility. Even matters regarding the entry of aid into Gaza – part of Trump’s plan and which Israel continues to obstruct – is being overseen by the US-led centre.

The CMCC was set up on 17 October and some 200 troops from the US military’s Central Command moved into the building, located 13 miles northeast of the Gaza Strip in the Israeli town of Kiryat Gat.

At the warehouse-turned-coordination centre, US troops occupy the top floor, Israel occupies the ground floor, and international organisations and representatives of other governments work in the floors between them, NYT said.

Work at the CMCC is being led by Aryeh Lightstone, an adviser for the Trump administration based in Tel Aviv, according to NYT.

Highlighting the lack of expertise among some of the representatives at the centre, the NYT cited three officials who said that one newcomer had to be briefed on what Hamas was as a movement.

In order to digest "heavy topics" and understand what they’re dealing with, some of the roundtable discussions, presentations, and other sessions are being given "light names," NYT cited two officials as saying.

In one example, the report said a working group on matters regarding civil governance in Gaza was themed depending on the day, such as "wellness Wednesdays" for healthcare and education and "thirsty Thursdays" for water infrastructure – infrastructure destroyed by Israel in the two-year war.

NYT said its report was based on interviews with more than 20 diplomats, aid workers, and other officials who spent time at the CMCC and are familiar with operations at the centre.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions are strongly opposed to any foreign control over Gaza, saying that this would be a new form of colonialism for the Palestinian territory of about 2.3 million people.

More than 69,000 people were killed in Israel’s two-year offensive in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Israel has killed hundreds of people in Gaza after the 10 October ceasefire, in frequent violations.