JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Central Command opened a Civil-Military Coordination Center in Israel, marking the formal establishment of a main coordination hub for Gaza assistance five days after world leaders signed a U.S.-brokered plan to permanently end the war between Israel and Hamas.
The CMCC is designed to support stabilization efforts. U.S. military personnel will not deploy into Gaza but will instead help facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical, and security assistance from international counterparts into Gaza.
'Bringing together stakeholders who share the goal of successful stabilization in Gaza is essential for a peaceful transition,' said Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command. 'Over the next two weeks, U.S. personnel will integrate representatives from partner nations, non-governmental organizations, international institutions, and the private sector as they arrive to the coordination center.'
The CMCC will also monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement, featuring an operations floor that allows staff to assess real-time developments in Gaza.
Approximately 200 U.S. service members with expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics, and engineering established the CMCC under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, commander of U.S. Army Central.
'The team worked tirelessly to build the CMCC from the ground up,' said Cooper. 'They can take great pride in knowing that they have built something that is critical to enabling the transition to civilian governance in Gaza.'
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he will visit the Civilian-Military Coordination Center
He arrived in Israel Wednesday for a four-day visit to support the successful implementation of President Trump's Comprehensive Plan to End the Conflict in Gaza.
Rubio said the State Department will be assigning some career-experienced personnel to help coordinate these efforts. 'It's important, and particularly over the next couple weeks, that we keep the ceasefire together. The Vice President is there now, and he'll be returning tomorrow and has great reports on the progress made. But there's more work to be done, and we know that. So the first couple weeks are going to be key,' he told reporters.
'And then the work will begin of sort of building out the permanent process of the - going to the UN potentially and getting the international mandate, building the international defense security forces. So there's a lot of work to be done, but we certainly wanted to make sure that we were there and ensuring that we had the right people in place at the coordination center, which is key to holding this all together'.
Rubio will then travel to Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Gyeongju October 26-30 to advance peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region, including at the ASEAN Summits and related meetings, and at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Week.
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