The Trump administration is planning to build a 5,000-person military base inside Gaza, the Guardian reported on Thursday, citing contracting records from the so-called “Board of Peace.”
The report said that the base would take up more than 350 acres of land in southern Gaza and is envisioned as a future base for the international force that may deploy to the Strip under President Trump’s plan for the Palestinian territory, though so far, only Indonesia has announced plans to commit troops to the force.
The Guardian said that the plans it reviewed “call for the phased construction of a military outpost that will eventually have a footprint of 1,400 metres by 1,100 metres, ringed by 26 trailer-mounted armored watch towers, a small arms range, bunkers, and a warehouse for military equipment for operations. The entire base will be encircled with barbed wire.”
The contracting document includes protocol for what happens if construction teams come across human remains, since the bodies of at least 8,000 Palestinians are missing under the rubble. “If suspected human remains or cultural artifacts are discovered, all work in the immediate area must cease immediately, the area must be secured, and the Contracting Officer must be notified immediately for direction,” the document says.
It’s unclear how much the base would cost to build, but earlier reports suggested the US was planning to construct a major military facility on the Gaza border at a cost of between $500 million and $600 million.
Trump convened his first “Board of Peace” meeting in Washington on Thursday, which came as Israel continues to violate the ceasefire deal, killing more than 600 Palestinians in the Strip since it was signed. At the event, Trump pledged that the US would contribute $10 billion to the board.
Under Trump’s plan for Gaza, the international force is supposed to replace IDF soldiers, who continue to occupy more than 50% of the Strip. But there’s no timeline on when that would happen, and Israel is threatening to restart its full-scale genocidal war if Hamas doesn’t disarm.
