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Leaked US military papers seen by Byline Times suggest that Gaza’s newly created Civil-Military Coordination Centre, now endorsed by the UN Security Council as part of Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, will function more as a US Army command post than a humanitarian hub.
Presented publicly as the logistical nerve-centre of Gaza’s reconstruction, the CMCC appears instead to weld military oversight to civilian governance. Its structure and leadership echo a forward headquarters rather than a neutral relief body, raising questions about who truly seeks to shape Gaza’s future: aid agencies or an American-led security apparatus operating from inside Israel.
Humanitarian Hub or Military Mission?
Critics from a number of Palestinian advocacy organisations in London have said the CMCC promises false humanitarian and reconstruction proposals.
The leaked papers, given to the London-based conflict research charity Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), outline how the 20-point plan devised by Trump is to be implemented.
Chaired personally by the President, it promises to synchronise relief, stabilisation and rebuilding efforts under the slogan “Earn Trust with Actions.” Based in a warehouse complex in Kiryat Gat, a short drive from Tel Aviv, this new “humanitarian” operation, inaugurated on 17 October 2025, is presented as the centrepiece of Gaza’s post-war recovery.
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US Army Control
The documents show that the CMCC is led by the US Army Central Command (ARCENT) and overseen by an “Executive Committee” of American generals and civilian appointees.
The document identifies a list of military actors whose exact role in the CMCC is unclear, but who appear to hold operating roles on the ground. They include Yaniv Asor, a major-general in the Israel Defence Forces and newly appointed commander of its Southern Command. He has long served in frontline infantry and reconnaissance formations in Gaza and Lebanon.
His CMCC and US counterpart appears to be Brad Cooper, a US Navy vice-admiral, who has, since February 2024, served as deputy commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) and was nominated for its top job by the Trump administration in June 2025.
Further on the US side, appears to be “MG Drake”, likely to be Aaron D. Drake, a senior officer in the the US Air Force nominated for Major General in mid-2025 and serving in senior defence-intelligence roles.
The list of senior military commanders is long indeed. Present is “RDML Sicola” or US Navy Rear Admiral Craig C. Sicola who serves as Vice Director, Strategy, Plans and Policy J5 for United States Central Command. Another flag-officer is “RADM Schlereth”, or US Navy Rear Admiral Frank G. Schlereth, a Senior Defence Official/Defence Attaché to Israel. Other military advisors include Lt Gen Michael R. Fenzel, the US Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority and Rear Adm Adan G. Cruz, CENTCOM’s J5 director.
The CMCC’s documents are also notable for their language of logistics and chain of command. They describe a site “operating 24/7” where every participating country or organisation is assigned an office and an “LOE” (line of effort). It is framed under six priorities: Intelligence, Security, Humanitarian Assistance, Reconstruction, International Stabilisation, and Civil Governance, echoing the structural language of a military, rather than a humanitarian campaign
The leadership table for the Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) makes plain who is in charge and it is not aid agencies….
