Donald Trump's peace committee, which was set up in January to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, has finally awarded its first construction contract in the devastated territory - a project to build a simple military outpost for 150 soldiers, intended to house Moroccan troops, a source familiar with the matter told the Guardian.
The contract, which has not yet been finalized, was awarded to Arkel International, a Louisiana-based company that has previously worked with the US government on projects in countries such as Iraq.
The Peace Council is chaired by the US president and led by a team that includes his son-in-law Jared Kushner and close aide Steve Witkoff.
In an emailed statement, a Peace Committee official said the committee and a group of Palestinian experts appointed to govern Gaza were “in the final stages of preparing several agreements, none of which have yet been concluded.” The Palestinian group is known as the National Committee for the Governance of Gaza.
The official added that "one of the planned contracts relates to facilities to support the International Stabilization Force (ISF), which will help implement the security and management measures envisaged in the plan."
"This agreement will be just one of many that are crucial to the future of Gaza," he added.
The contract award came just days after Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm, although serious doubts remain about how the organization would hand over its weapons. Israel opposed the plan and stepped up airstrikes on Gaza after Trump's announcement.
The Guardian reported back in July that the original Gaza reconstruction plan had been significantly scaled back - from an ambitious project to rebuild the entire territory to a small pilot project in the southern Gaza Strip.
The base now being planned will cover an area of just 100 by 120 meters and will be intended to house a contingent of Moroccan soldiers, who would be rotated from a base in Israel, the source said. It will be located in an area covering about 60 percent of Gaza territory, which is under direct Israeli military control. Israeli forces have also established a buffer zone outside the area.
The source said the base would be about 1,6 kilometers from the Israeli border and would have a “quick evacuation route” in the event of an attack on troops.
The United Nations resolution authorizing the formation of the Peace Committee calls for the establishment of an International Stabilization Force for Gaza, but there has been mixed information about which countries will participate in the mission. Morocco has promised to send a smaller contingent, but the legal framework for the operation of this force has not yet been agreed upon, so it is not known when the deployment could begin.
In earlier versions of the contract, which the Guardian had access to, the base for 150 soldiers represented the first phase of a project to build a military base with a capacity of 5.000 people.
The base was to include combat positions for vehicles and a protective earthen embankment, as well as basic infrastructure suitable for a short-term stay of soldiers. The contract stated that the first phase would consist of “tents and sleeping accommodations, as well as chemical toilets and handwashing stations.” The document states that such conditions would be considered sufficient for residence at that stage.
Trump announced in February 2025 that the United States would “take over” and “own” Gaza, although the agreement establishing the Peace Committee did not go that far.
At the board's first meeting in January, Kouchner presented a "master plan" for the construction of a "New Gaza," envisioned as a modern coastal city with gleaming mixed-use skyscrapers.
"It could be a hope, it could become a destination. It would have a lot of industry," Kushner said.
At least 80 percent of Gaza's buildings were damaged or destroyed during the war. Ten months after the ceasefire, most of the two million residents still live in makeshift and unsanitary camps.
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