Israeli and US diplomatic officials said that no final decision had been made regarding the multinational headquarters in Kiryat Gat, and that the move was part of an early stage of a transfer of activity that had been planned in advance. According to the officials, the command center has already begun transferring some of its operations, and some of the participants from the 24 militaries that had been present there have already returned to their countries.
Against this backdrop, Reuters reported that the Civil-Military Coordination Center, the multinational headquarters established after the hostage deal and the ceasefire, was expected to close. According to the report, seven diplomats familiar with its work said its missions would be transferred to a US-led international task force.
The plan stalled
Under the original Trump Plan, as the US initiative moved forward, a technocratic committee was supposed to enter the Gaza Strip and take responsibility for civilian administration. At the same time, the multinational headquarters was supposed to move from Kiryat Gat to the Gaza border in order to closely monitor the implementation of the plan.
But now, after Hamas refused to disarm, and following discussions between Israel, the US and some of the participating countries, it was decided to scale back activity in Kiryat Gat. According to one official, there is a sense that the situation in Gaza is in a kind of "freeze" until the end of the war with Iran.
According to the same official, the Americans are furious with Hamas, and are also criticizing Turkey, Qatar and Egypt, which had guaranteed that Hamas would disarm. Meanwhile, Qatar, which is in the process of removing Hamas' leadership from its territory, is distancing itself from Gaza and the Palestinians.
At the same time, officials familiar with the command center's work rejected reports that it was being shut down, saying that "any claim of closure is incorrect." They stressed that its activity was even expanding and that it continued to play a central role in transferring aid and maintaining the ceasefire.
