US-led coordination center in Israel maps Gaza's future amid hope and skepticism

In an unassuming warehouse on a quiet back street of an industrial park in the Israeli town of Kiryat Gat, the fate of some two million Gazans is being mapped out.

On the second floor, in a large hall with bright lights and high ceilings, small teams of military personnel and civilian specialists from the US, Israel, and around the world huddle around tables or monitor oversized screens.

Calling it a “historic opportunity for Gaza’s stabilization and progress toward lasting peace,” he said that “the CMCC’s establishment in support of the president’s Gaza peace plan is unprecedented.”

According to US officials, the center’s mandate is coordination: facilitating aid flows, supporting ceasefire monitoring, and building the logistical backbone for reconstruction. It does not place US troops inside Gaza but brings together dozens of international partners.

Its very establishment reflects an extraordinary level of cooperation. US officers lead the operation, joined by IDF personnel and representatives from more than 20 countries, along with international civil society groups.

According to those running the operation, nothing like this has ever been done before, and certainly not in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which might be a good omen for the decades-old intractable dispute.

However, the effort has also drawn criticism. Some warn that reconstruction is moving faster than the political and security conditions on the ground. They point out that Hamas has yet to fully disarm, clashes between terrorists and IDF forces still flare, and the last two deceased Israeli hostages have not yet been returned – all factors that could undermine the CMCC’s work.

Others note that no Palestinian governing entity is formally involved, and that hesitation by some international partners, while certain countries with questionable motives have shown eagerness to participate, are concerning.

While US military planners at the coordination center are working on options for the force, the countries Washington hoped would take the lead – such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – have so far held back.

Assaf Orion, a brigadier general in the IDF reserves and senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said the CMCC program was “certainly unprecedented in our conflict.”

Expressing cautious optimism that a new approach might bring positive results, he warned that “a lot can go wrong.”

“In Gaza, we tried [to resolve the conflict] without agreements afterwards and with agreements that weren’t implemented,” he noted. “There is a question of whether Israel – and whatever Palestinians they chose to be with – can succeed this time. Definitely, there is now a potential for advancing a better future, although it is fraught with problems and spoilers.”

Former US special envoy Dennis Ross and Orion – who is also the Washington Institute’s Reuven International Fellow – have laid out a “four-zone” plan for Gaza reconstruction. The plan calls for dividing the enclave into tightly controlled areas: red zones where Hamas remains; green humanitarian havens under Arab oversight; gray zones for internationally managed reconstruction; and blue zones deemed secure for civilian return.

The goal is to gradually convert red zones into blue, by compelling Hamas members to surrender or leave the Gaza Strip. After clearance, temporary international or regional authorities would manage security and rebuilding.

Orion stressed that this colored-zone framework was “not an intellectual exercise” but rather the groundwork for “the futuristic vision for Gaza.” In order to accomplish this, he said, “Hamas cannot stay and rule, and cannot be armed.”

“The front to demilitarize Hamas is not unified,” he pointed out, adding that there is also no cohesive view as to who should eventually govern Gaza in the group’s absence.

Trump previously proposed forming a “board of peace” to oversee redevelopment – an idea supported in the UN resolution. He also stated that the Palestinian Authority, often criticized for corruption and supporting terror, could only join the rebuilding process once it “has completed its reform program.”

The PA response to its exclusion has been measured. Mahmoud al-Habash, a senior Palestinian official and adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said he welcomed the UN resolution and Trump’s efforts to help Gaza.

“We support anything that can deprive [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu of the excuse to continue the fighting. We do not mind if it’s in Kiryat Gat, Tel Aviv, or anywhere else. We also do not have any problem with the presence of stability forces in Gaza,” Habash continued.

“The most important thing is that they fulfill their duties toward the Palestinian people – prevent displacement, stop renewal of the war, and create the circumstances for a political and diplomatic course,” he said.

However, some Palestinians have expressed frustration, saying the CMCC’s setup suggests that Washington and Jerusalem still do not see Gaza and the West Bank as a single, unified entity under PA responsibility.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, who was born in Gaza, said there were “some growing and learning pains” with the post-war efforts.

He noted the presence of internal US tensions regarding the degree of American involvement and a broader political reluctance to commit to “any long-term contingency of troops or soldiers.”

“There’s a broader political ethos that is against any further entanglements in the Middle East,” he said.

Countries that America had hoped would get involved, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are holding back, he said, “upset that the US has essentially acquiesced or given too many concessions, from their point of view, to the Qataris.” Allowing Qatar and Turkey to take leading roles “has left Hamas in place,” the senior Atlantic Council fellow said.

Nevertheless, some Gazans see “hope” that external intervention will “expose Hamas, expose their criminality, end their grip,” Alkhatib said, adding that the increase in aid trucks entering the enclave is a positive sign of the CMCC’s effectiveness.

Still, he warned: “There is a fear that the CMCC could potentially become an impotent tool.”

“The US has the right intentions, the right posture, the right tools, [and] the right attitude, but it has stopped short of actually going after Hamas,” Alkhatib said, “and is already looking at ways in which it can pull back.

“I have immense concern that this is not heading in a very good direction at all – unless there’s a way to really have solid leadership, solid US commitment,” he stated. ■