US reportedly planning on building massive $500 million army base in southern Israel to house the international stabilization force, led by Egypt, which will be tasked with securing the Gaza Strip.
By World Israel News Staff
The United States is planning to build a massive military facility in southwestern Israel to house foreign soldiers serving as part of the international security force tasked with policing the Gaza Strip, multiple Israeli officials say.
On Tuesday, the Israeli investigative journalism site Shomrim reported that the United States is in talks with the Israeli government and the IDF to establish a large army base in southwestern Israel near the Gaza frontier.
Security officials cited by the report said the US is already scouting for possible locations for the base, which is estimated to cost roughly half a billion dollars.
As part of the Trump administration’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, the US is organizing an International Stabilization Force to act as a peacekeeping force, while also ensuring the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
Egypt is expected to head up the ISF, and has already committed to contributing soldiers to the new force.
A number of other nations, most of them Muslim-majority, have also offered to send troops, including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
According to recent reports, the force will intentionally be made up entirely of Arab and Muslim troops, given the nature of the deployment.
Last month, the US deployed 200 soldiers to Israel and opened a command and control center in Kiryat Gat to oversee the Gaza ceasefire.
The new facility planned for construction, however, would dwarf existing American military investments in Israel, though it is unclear how many, if any, US service members would be deployed to the base, which would primarily serve the Arab and Muslim soldiers operating in Gaza as part of the ISF.
The US Embassy in Israel, the Pentagon, and the US Central Command declined requests for comment on the report.
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