US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace (BoP) has issued its first construction contract to build a military outpost for Moroccan troops in Gaza, The Guardian reported, despite the US-backed plan’s later phases remaining unresolved and Israeli forces continuing near-daily strikes on the territory.
Citing a source familiar with the matter, the outlet reported on Thursday that the plan envisages a 150-person military outpost measuring 100 metres by 120 metres.
While the exact location has not been disclosed, reports suggest that the outpost would be built in the roughly 60 percent of Gaza that remains under Israeli military control. The base would reportedly be located about a mile from the Israeli border and positioned near an extraction route for troops in the event of an attack.
The Guardian named Arkel International, a construction company based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as the firm given the contract. The company has a long record of US government and military contracting, including construction, logistics and camp-management work for US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as projects for the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The contract has not yet been finalised, according to the report.
An email from a BoP official, cited by The Guardian, said that the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza – the Palestinian technocratic body tasked with overseeing day-to-day governance in the enclave – was "in the final stages of preparing several contract awards", including one concerning facilities to support the International Stabilisation Force (ISF).
Five states – Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania – were initially announced as troop contributors to the multinational force proposed under Trump’s October 2025 Gaza ceasefire plan.
Morocco, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020, has pledged a contingent of troops. Israeli public broadcaster Kan has reported that around 30 Moroccan military officers have already conducted field tours in Gaza in preparation for a possible deployment.
However, the legal framework governing an ISF deployment has yet to be finalised, and the force’s timeline remains unclear. If confirmed, the contract could indicate a scaling back of Trump’s earlier promises to rebuild Gaza, and would be more consistent with more recent reports that the BoP may focus initially on a limited pilot project in Rafah.
The report has also renewed international-law concerns over the legality of constructing military infrastructure on Palestinian land in Gaza, including whether the BoP or an international force has lawful authority to acquire or use land, and whether Palestinians have given meaningful consent.
Rights advocates and UN experts have warned that externally directed reconstruction and security arrangements risk violating Palestinians’ right to self-determination, particularly without transparent land-access procedures, consultation with legitimate Palestinian bodies, and protections for property rights or compensation.
It comes days after Trump said Hamas had agreed to disarm under the 10-point ceasefire plan, while Israel has yet to carry out a full withdrawal from the territory, despite this forming a key part of the agreement.
The New Arab has reached out to Arkel International for comment.