The US is closing a military centre it established in Israel to monitor the Gaza ceasefire, in a sign that the Trump administration’s focus on the destroyed enclave is waning amid the war on Iran.
Reuters reported on Friday that the Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) in Israel would be shuttered and its aid and monitoring responsibilities handed to a US-commanded international security force that is supposed to deploy to Gaza.
The CMCC will come under the control of the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) led by US Major General Jasper Jeffers, the report added. But the ISF’s fate is also uncertain.
Reuters reported that the number of US troops working at the centre would drop to 40 from around 190, and that those troops would eventually be replaced by civilian staff from other countries.
It’s unclear what practical impact the CMCC’s closure will have.
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At the most basic level, the CMCC was designed to ensure aid deliveries to Palestinians in Gaza, but officials told Reuters that aid flows have remained largely stagnant.
Germany, France, Britain, Egypt, and the UAE participated in planning at the centre in its first months, but Reuters said most countries were hardly sending representatives there anymore.
‘Ongoing and deadly Israeli strikes’
Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire since it was signed in October 2025, and progress on Gaza’s reconstruction has stalled. Over 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since that agreement was implemented.
US President Donald Trump welcomed the agreement with fanfare, travelling to the Middle East on a victory tour. “The war in Gaza is over…now the rebuilding begins,” Trump said in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh for a so-called peace summit.
Diplomats and analysts told MEE at the time they were concerned Trump would lose interest in the deal and that the US would abandon ensuring Israel abided by its commitments.
Khaled Khiari, United Nations assistant secretary general for the Middle East, warned this week that the besieged enclave faced “ongoing and deadly Israeli strikes” despite the US-backed ceasefire.
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Even with the CMCC in place, there appeared to be few guardrails against Israeli violations of the ceasefire. Israel also dominated the centre.
The Guardian reported in December 2025 that Israel was conducting such extensive surveillance at the centre that the US and other states complained. The Israeli military was openly and covertly recording meetings and discussions.
The US commander of the CMCC, Lieutenant General Patrick Frank, told his Israeli counterpart the spying needed to stop.
The US obtained a UN Security Council mandate for the ISF in November 2025. Earlier this year, momentum towards the force seemed to be building, with Indonesia reportedly preparing to send 8,000 troops to participate. Jordan and Egypt were also training police and soldiers affiliated with the Palestinian Authority.
The US-Israeli attack on Iran has effectively sent a chill through the plans. A US official told MEE, however, that Arab and Muslim states are reassessing their participation in the project.
