The Guardian reports that Israel is extensively monitoring US and allied personnel at the CMCC in Kiryat Gat, prompting a US general to demand that the recordings stop
Ynet News
Israel has conducted extensive monitoring of U.S. and allied personnel stationed at a new American headquarters in Kiryat Gat, the Guardian reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with disputes over both open and covert recordings of meetings held on the base.
The report said the scale of alleged intelligence gathering inside the Civil-Military Coordination Center, or CMCC, prompted the base’s U.S. commander, Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, to summon an Israeli counterpart and tell him that ‘recording has to stop here.’
Staff members and visitors from other countries also raised concerns that Israel was recording conversations inside the facility, the report said, and some were cautioned against sharing sensitive information for fear it could be ‘collected and exploited.’
According to the Guardian, the U.S. military declined to comment on the alleged monitoring. The IDF also did not address Frank’s reported demand to end recordings but said discussions at the CMCC are not classified.
‘The IDF documents and summarizes meetings in which it is present through protocols, as any professional organisation of this nature does in a transparent and agreed upon manner,’ the army told the outlet. ‘The claim that the IDF is gathering intelligence on its partners in meetings which the IDF is an active participant is absurd.’
The U.S.-led headquarters was established in October to oversee the ceasefire, coordinate humanitarian aid and outline future plans for the Gaza Strip as part of President Donald Trump’s 20-point proposal for ending the war. Large printed versions of the plan reportedly hang throughout the building.
American troops deployed there were tasked with helping increase the flow of essential aid into Gaza under the ceasefire arrangements. Early reports suggested Israel had handed authority over incoming goods to the U.S. military, but two months into the ceasefire, a U.S. official said Israel still controls Gaza’s perimeter and what enters it. ‘We didn’t take over [aid],’ the official told the Guardian. ‘It is an integration. It is hand in glove. They ([The Israelis] remain the hand, and the CMMC have become the glove over that hand.’
The American contingent includes logistics specialists experienced in disaster response and supply routing in hostile terrain. Many arrived determined to ramp up aid deliveries but soon found that Israeli restrictions on goods entering Gaza posed a greater obstacle than engineering challenges. Within weeks, several dozen personnel departed, the Guardian reported.