U.S. service members work at the Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, Israel, on Nov. 17, 2025. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)

KIRYAT GAT, ISRAEL — Prior to last month, the central nervous system for President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan was nothing but an empty warehouse in this industrial city south of Tel Aviv.

The task of overseeing the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has since brought about 150 American troops and scores of international staffers to the facility, which is called the Civil Military Coordination Center and is under the auspices of U.S Central Command.

Tucked between semiconductor plants and abandoned gas stations in an industrial park, the center makes for an unlikely place for facilitating the flow of humanitarian, logistical and security assistance into Gaza.

Including the U.S. service members, the center’s staff is made up of nearly 600 civilians and soldiers from more than 40 nations and international partners, including Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The center is co-led by U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank and the American ambassador to Yemen, Steven Fagin. A British major general acts as the deputy commander of the center.

Members of the Civil Military Coordination Center work together in Kiryat Gat, Israel, to oversee the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. The center is a collaboration between U.S. Central Command and more than 40 partner nations and international organizations. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)

Military officials offered reporters a brief look inside the center on Monday but did not allow them to speak with anyone working there.

The space spans the length of a football field and is carpeted with artificial turf. Underneath 20-foot ceilings, clusters of desks and conference tables are spread throughout the open warehouse, with working groups huddled around TV screens and whiteboards.

A floor-to-ceiling screen displays a map of Gaza and live updates. Propped against a concrete pillar near the center of the room are two white poster boards, detailing the president’s peace plan.

CENTCOM had initially expected it would take two weeks to stand up the space, said Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the command. It took one, and by the second week, international partners had arrived and the center was up and running.

“That’s a rapid pace for any large-scale multinational effort,” Hawkins said.

A U.S. Army officer briefs Israeli service members at the Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, Israel, on Nov. 17, 2025. The center is under the auspices of U.S. Central Command and oversees the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)

Operating the center is a critical role for the U.S., which has the necessary expertise and a vested interest in making sure the ceasefire holds, analysts say.

But its existence and its location about 20 miles from Gaza also reflect a strategy that’s aimed at preventing escalation while avoiding long-term military entanglements, according to experts.

“I think our administration is trying to make sure that we don’t get caught up in mission creep here,” retired Gen. Joseph Votel, who led CENTCOM from 2016 to 2019, said in an interview.

As the ceasefire deal enters its second month, top of mind in the center is the deployment of an international security force composed of troops from partner nations, a key part of Trump’s peace plan.

While the military has an important role to play inside the center, administration officials have been adamant that U.S. service members will not enter Gaza.

Shortly after the ceasefire deal, Vice President JD Vance made the rounds on weekend talk shows to assure Americans that there would be no boots on the ground.

And recently, U.S. Central Command was quick to shut down recent reports suggesting the military was looking to build a base near Gaza that could house 10,000 of its troops.

The idea is for the U.S. military to act as a conduit rather than a direct participant, bringing together different nations in the hopes of eventually allowing others to take the lead, said Votel, who is also a distinguished military fellow at the Middle East Institute.

“I think what we’re trying to do is bring our skills for communication, for coordination, for planning together, along with our good relationship with the government of Israel, to help orchestrate what I hope will be more significant on-the-ground contributions from other militaries,” he said.

Posters displaying President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza are displayed at the Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, Israel, on Nov. 17, 2025. The U.S.-led center is tasked with overseeing the ceasefire agreement. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)

On Monday, the United Nations adopted a resolution endorsing Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which would authorize an international stabilization force in Gaza to oversee borders, provide security and demilitarize the territory.

The resolution’s approval could jump-start that effort. Arab and other Muslim-majority countries that expressed interest in providing troops for an international force had signaled that U.N. authorization was essential for their participation, according to The Associated Press.

A U.S. service member is shown at the Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, Israel, on Nov. 17, 2025, standing in front of a screen displaying live updates on the situation in Gaza. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)

Questions remain as to just how long and in what capacity the U.S. military will stay involved in post-war Gaza.

Hawkins declined to share a timeline for U.S. military involvement.

“This is a very fragile process and we’re very focused on doing all we can to provide an opportunity for what is very historic in terms of what can be achieved to create conditions for lasting peace,” he said.

The ceasefire, which is entering its second month, halted a war that began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched attacks on Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people. The militant group has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

In addition to the international stabilization force, Trump’s peace plan calls for the disarming of Hamas, redevelopment of Gaza, and eventual return of control in the territory to the Palestinian Authority.

Rehabilitating Gaza is going to require long-term focus, said Bradley Bowman, an expert in U.S. defense strategy who also spent 15 years in the Army as a company commander, pilot and staff officer in Afghanistan.

While the U.S. certainly wants peace in the Middle East, the Pentagon also learned its lesson from long, drawn-out conflicts in Iraq and Syria and now is also balancing competing interests in the Pacific, Eastern Europe and the Western Hemisphere, Bowman said.

“Resources are not infinite,” he said. “And we have to establish priorities.”

A U.S. service member is shown in front of a screen displaying live updates on the situation in Gaza at the Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, Israel, on Nov. 17, 2025. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)