The US is planning to build a large military base in the Gaza border area in Israel, Ynet reported, citing an exclusive report by the investigative Shomrim website.

Israeli officials familiar with the preliminary plans say the facility will be used by international forces operating in Gaza to maintain the ceasefire and is expected to house several thousand troops 

The project’s budget is about $500 million.

In recent weeks, US officials advanced the proposal in discussion with Israeli government and IDF officials and have begun surveying potential locations in the Gaza border area.

Israeli security officials told Shomrim that the development signals a huge and significant shift in the US role in Israel and the region.

“It’s hard to overstate the significance of building such a base,” one official said. “Since the Six-Day War, Israel has sought to minimize international involvement in the territories. The establishment of an American base on Israeli soil shows just how determined Washington is to be involved in Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Such a major investment in a base outside the U.S. could also have domestic political implications, as many Republicans oppose expanding American military involvement overseas.

Until now, U.S. military presence in Israel has been relatively limited. Following the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the U.S. deployed around 200 US troops to Israel, who currently operate from the U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat (CMCC). During the war, the U.S. also deployed a THAAD missile battery in Israel to help intercept Iranian missiles.

The planned base is part of a broader American strategy that has already curtailed Israel’s freedom of action in Gaza, particularly regarding the entry of humanitarian aid, which Israel used as leverage against Hamas. Israeli sources said that the CMCC in Kiryat Gat is expected to take full control of aid distribution, leaving Israel with only a marginal role via the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

The US takeover of aid management was first reported by the Washington Post.

“The CMCC in Kiryat Gat will be responsible for most of the activity in Gaza, and Israel’s status as the central player in the Strip is about to change,” said Dr. Michael Milshtein, a senior researcher at  Tel Aviv University’s Dayan Center and former head of the IDF’s Palestinian Affairs Department

If realized, the base would mark the first large-scale American military installation in Israel, underscoring a deepening U.S. commitment to post-war stabilization efforts in Gaza—and potentially reshaping the regional balance of control over humanitarian and security operations.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)