Maj. Gen. Sean Salene, right, greets the commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith, at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., July 16, 2025. Salene was nominated to serve as the U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem. (Joshua Bustamante/U.S. Marine Corps)
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Sean Salene has been nominated to lead a key security operation in Jerusalem as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to push the Gaza ceasefire agreement into its second phase.
If confirmed by the Senate, Salene will be promoted to lieutenant general and take the helm of the Office of the Security Coordinator in Israel’s capital. He is currently performing the duties of deputy commander for U.S. Central Command.
The head of U.S. Army Central, Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, has also been nominated to take over the role of deputy CENTCOM commander, according to the Pentagon.
In his current role, Frank also serves as the co-lead of the Civil Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, Israel, the U.S. military’s hub for facilitating aid into Gaza.
The commander of U.S. Army Central, Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, second from right, looks at humanitarian aid routes on a map at the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, Israel, on Dec. 3, 2025. Frank was nominated to be the deputy head of U.S. Central Command, according to the Defense Department. (Aiden Griffitts/U.S. Army)
Neither the Pentagon nor CENTCOM immediately responded to questions about how Frank’s nomination will affect his role at the center.
The office Salene is nominated to lead was established more than 20 years ago to build the capacity of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces and facilitate coordination with Israeli forces, according to the State Department.
It has since become an important vehicle for training Palestinian Authority personnel who govern parts of the West Bank and could play a role in a postwar Gaza security force, according to the Israel Policy Forum, a U.S.-based think tank that advocates for a two-state solution.
While the office is led by an American three-star general, nearly a dozen other nations contribute to its mission, according to the think tank. They include the U.K., Turkey and Germany.
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal struck in October between Hamas and Israel halted nearly two years of brutal war, but the path forward for Gaza remains fragile.
Shortly after news of the deal broke, the U.S. military deployed 200 troops to southern Israel to quickly stand up the coordination center, which acts as an international operations hub for monitoring the ceasefire and moving aid.
A security force for Gaza is top of mind today as U.S. leaders and international partners gather in Florida in a bid to push the Gaza ceasefire agreement into its second phase, according to The Associated Press.
The second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan includes the creation of an international stabilization force, which will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, according to the text of the agreement.
Under the vision outlined by the agreement, the international force would include troops from different countries, but international leaders have so far been hesitant to commit to participating.
The meeting Friday will be led by the president’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. Representatives of Qatar and Turkey have also confirmed their presence at the meeting, according to the AP.
