The joint U.S.-led base and Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), established to accelerate humanitarian aid to Gaza and ensure security coordination, has become the focus of a major diplomatic crisis amid allegations that Israel has been systematically recording meetings. The complete exclusion of Palestinians from the process is further intensifying criticism.

Israeli Surveillance Allegations Heighten Tensions

Sources familiar with the matter say Israeli agents are broadly monitoring American and allied forces based at the new U.S. facility in southern Israel.
Amid growing unease over open and covert recordings, CMCC’s U.S. commander Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank reportedly summoned his Israeli counterpart and insisted that “the recording must stop immediately.”

Representatives from several countries were warned not to share sensitive information due to Israel’s monitoring activities.
The U.S. military declined to comment, while the Israeli military refused to address Frank’s request and maintained that CMCC discussions were “not classified.”

Israel stated: “The IDF documents and summarizes meetings through protocols in a transparent and mutually agreed manner, like any professional organization. Claims that the IDF gathers intelligence on its partners during meetings it attends are absurd.”

The Real Obstacle to Aid: Israeli Controls

Among the U.S. personnel deployed to the CMCC were experts in navigating disaster zones and designing supply routes in difficult terrain. They arrived eager to accelerate aid delivery but soon realized that Israeli control over goods entering Gaza posed a far greater obstacle than any logistical challenge.

Basic goods—such as tent poles or chemicals needed for water purification—were blocked on grounds that they could be “dual use.” Diplomats say CMCC discussions played an important role in getting some items removed from the restricted list.

Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel confirmed he had been briefed on the lifting of at least one dual-use restriction.

Systematic Exclusion of Palestinians

Even though Trump’s plan acknowledges Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood and proposes giving them seats in a temporary administration, no Palestinian representatives participate in CMCC meetings.
Neither the Palestinian Authority nor civil society groups nor humanitarian organizations from Gaza were allowed to join.

Sources say even attempts to include Palestinians via video link were repeatedly blocked by Israeli officials.
U.S. planning documents reviewed by The Guardian avoid the words “Palestine” or “Palestinians,” referring instead to residents as “Gazans.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the CMCC as an entirely bilateral project. After visiting the site last month, he described the center as a “joint Israeli-American initiative,” omitting any reference to other partners.

Inside the Base: A Distopian Workspace

Situated in a multi-story building in the industrial zone of Kiryat Gat—around 20 km from Gaza—the CMCC resembles a dystopian organizational experiment.

The windowless, cave-like main hall is floored with artificial grass and divided by clusters of whiteboards into informal meeting zones where soldiers, diplomats and aid workers mingle.

Corporate American jargon has permeated the center.
Gazans are sometimes described as “end users,” and staff rely on highly insensitive mnemonic devices to guide their work.

“Wellness Wednesdays” focused on repairing hospitals and schools devastated by bombardment.
In a place where children die while trying to collect water and diseases spread due to poor sanitation, “Thirsty Thursdays” were dedicated to public utilities.

Many diplomats and aid workers are deeply uneasy with the CMCC.
They fear the center could violate international law, undermine Palestinians’ ability to shape their own future, operate without a clear international mandate and blur military-humanitarian boundaries.

Yet withdrawing entirely could leave Gaza’s future solely in the hands of Israel and newly arrived U.S. military planners with limited understanding of the region.

CMCC’s Influence Fades as Uncertainty Grows

Sources say the CMCC’s role has diminished since dozens of U.S. troops dispatched in October completed their assignments and returned to their home bases.
How much of the center’s abstract planning will ever be applied on the ground remains unclear.

Israel insists the ceasefire cannot move into its next phase until Hamas is fully disarmed, while international legal bodies and humanitarian organizations say Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

Asked about a timeline for implementing CMCC plans, a U.S. official declined to provide details:
“The U.S. military is not at the center of this. It’s primarily a political issue.”