Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, established in January to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, has reportedly issued its first construction contract with Arkel International, The Guardian reports.
The contract has been provisionally awarded to the Louisiana-based firm to build a rudimentary military outpost capable of housing 150 Moroccan troops as part of a proposed international stabilization force, or ISF.
According to Board of Peace officials, the project is one of several contracts being prepared and would provide facilities to support the ISF, which is intended to help implement the board’s security and governance road map for Gaza. The base would be located in the 60% of Gaza currently under direct Israeli military control, about a mile from the Israeli border, and would include only basic facilities for short-term troop deployments.
The project reflects a significant scaling back of the board’s original reconstruction ambitions, which initially envisioned rebuilding all of Gaza and included plans for a much larger 5,000-person military base.
The announcement comes days after Trump claimed Hamas had agreed to disarm, despite uncertainty over how that would occur, and amid continued Israeli opposition to the plan.
The Guardian has the full story.
