Israeli surveillance targets US and allies at joint base planning Gaza aid and security, say sources | Israel

Israeli agents are conducting widespread surveillance of US forces and their allies based at a new US base in the south of the country, according to sources with knowledge of disputes over open and secret recordings of meetings and discussions.

The extent of intelligence collected at the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) prompted the base’s US commander, Lieutenant General Patrick Frank, to call an Israeli colleague to a meeting and say that “the record should stop here.”

Staff and visitors from other countries also expressed concerns about Israel’s recording at CMCC. Some have been told to avoid sharing sensitive information due to the risk of it being collected and exploited.

The US military declined to comment when asked about Israeli surveillance activities. The Israeli military declined to comment on Frank’s request to stop the recording, noting that conversations within the CMCC were not classified.

“The IDF documents and summarizes the meetings in which it participates through protocols, as any professional organization of this nature does in a transparent and agreed upon manner,” the Israeli army said in a statement. he said.

“The claim that the IDF collects intelligence on its partners in meetings in which it actively participates is absurd.”

The CMCC was established in October to monitor the ceasefire, coordinate aid and prepare plans for the future of Gaza under Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to stop the war. Giant copies of this document are displayed around the building.

The soldiers stationed there were tasked with supporting the increase of necessary supplies to Gaza, which is part of the agreement.

Israel regularly restricted or blocked shipments of food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies to Gaza. This summer’s complete siege has plunged parts of the region into famine.

When CMCC became operational, US and Israeli media reported The claim that Israel has transferred authority regarding those entering the region to the US military.

Two months after the ceasefire, Washington has significant influence, but Israel maintains control of the Gaza perimeter and those entering the area, according to a US official.

“We did not take over [aid]He said on condition of anonymity: “This is integration. They are holding hands. They ([The Israelis] It remained the hand and CMMC became the glove of that hand,” the official said.

U.S. forces deployed to CMCC included logistics experts experienced in navigating natural disasters or trained to find supply routes through hostile terrain.

They arrived to speed up the flow of aid but soon discovered that Israeli controls over goods entering Gaza were a bigger obstacle than engineering difficulties. Within a few weeks, several dozen people had left.

Diplomats say the talks at the CMCC are necessary to persuade Israel to change lists of materials banned or restricted from entering Gaza on the grounds that they are “dual use” or could be reused for military and humanitarian purposes. It includes basic information such as tent poles and chemicals needed for water purification.

Dutch foreign minister David van Weel said he was informed at the CMCC about “one of the dual-use barriers that was removed as a result of negotiations.” [there]”.

Other items needed to reopen schools, such as pens and paper, were banned from being sent to Gaza without explanation.

except Palestinians

The CMCC brings together military planners from the United States, Israel and other allied countries, including the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

Diplomats sent to Israel and occupied Palestine and humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza were also invited to participate in discussions on aid supplies and the future of the region.

Trump’s plan acknowledges Palestinian aspirations for a state and promises to give Palestinians seats in an interim administration, but they are comprehensively excluded from the CMCC.

There were no representatives from Palestinian civil or humanitarian organizations or the Palestinian Authority invited to participate in the discussions.

Even efforts to engage Palestinians in negotiations via video calls have been repeatedly cut off by Israeli officials, sources familiar with or involved in the discussions said.

US military planning documents seen by the Guardian avoid the use of the words Palestine or Palestine, instead referring to those living in the area as “Gazanians”.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the CMCC as a purely bilateral project. In a statement after visiting the base last month, he called the center a “joint Israeli-American effort” and made no mention of other partners, and official photos of the visit showed only Israelis and Americans.

An Israeli military source said that the visit was organized outside working hours for security reasons and that the US military decided which counterparts would attend.

dystopian beginning

CMCC is located in a multi-storey building in the industrial area of ​​Kiryat Gat, a nondescript town about 20 km from the Gaza border.

The food distribution sites were previously used by the Gaza Humanitarian Aid Foundation, which has become a death trap for hundreds of Palestinians. Some of the branded products of the now disbanded GHF are still piling up in the basement.

The Israelis and Americans each have a floor, and important allies have offices.

There is a feeling of dystopian beginning inside. A cavernous, windowless main hall is covered in astroturf, and clusters of whiteboards divide the floor space into informal meeting spaces where soldiers gather with diplomats and aid workers.

The language of corporate America came with the nation’s troops. Palestinians in Gaza are sometimes referred to as “end users,” and blithely insensitive mnemonics are used to help some teams direct their efforts.

“Healthy Living Wednesdays” focused on repairing hospitals that were subjected to relentless attacks in Gaza and schools that have not been in service for two years.

In a place where children are killed trying to collect water and lack of hygiene spreads disease, “Thirsty Thursdays” are for public services.

Many diplomats and aid workers are extremely cautious about being at the CMCC.

They worry that the center could violate international law, prevent Palestinians from planning their own future, operate without a clear international mandate, and confuse military and humanitarian work.

But they also fear that staying away would leave discussions about Gaza’s future solely in the hands of Israel and incoming U.S. military planners who have little knowledge of Gaza or the broader political context they are trying to influence.

“We’re really not sure how much time and energy to invest,” one of them said. “But this is the only chance we have [the Americans] “He listens to us.”

CMCC’s role may already be diminishing as dozens of U.S. military personnel sent there in October return to their home bases after their missions are officially completed, sources said.

Designing an abstract future for Gaza in a political vacuum that excludes Palestinians seems much simpler than past attempts at negotiation. It is unclear how much of the planning done at CMCC will be tested in Gaza.

Israel says the ceasefire will not move to the next phase until Hamas is demilitarized, and neither the United States nor its allies have a plan for how to achieve something that Israeli troops have failed to do despite two years of brutal offensives. The UN commission of inquiry found earlier this year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, as did numerous humanitarian organisations.

When asked for a timeline for implementing the plans prepared at the CMCC, the US official declined to provide one. “The US military is not at the center of this,” he said. “It goes more into the political world.”