World Council Prepares First Military Base with Rapid Evacuation Route in Gaza: Who Will Be Stationed There
The World Council is preparing the first military base in Gaza for the International Stabilization Forces (ISF). The facility is planned to host 150 Moroccan soldiers. The contract has been preliminarily awarded to Arkel International. The base will be built in an area under Israeli control, about 1.6 km from Israeli territory, with a rapid evacuation route. Final approval of the agreement has not yet been received.
The World Council has prepared the first construction contract for establishing a base in Gaza for the International Stabilization Forces (ISF). The facility is planned to host 150 Moroccan soldiers. This was reported on Thursday, August 6, by the British newspaper The Guardian, citing a source familiar with the project's details. The contract has been preliminarily awarded to Arkel International, a company that previously performed work for the U.S. government, including in Iraq. The agreement has not yet received final approval. A World Council spokesperson said via email that the council and the team of Palestinian technocrats managing the Gaza Strip are finalizing several contracts, but none have been signed yet. The Palestinian body is called the National Committee for Managing Gaza. The planned base will be relatively small—100 by 120 meters. It will host a unit of Moroccan soldiers who will rotate from a base in Israel. The facility will be built in the Gaza Strip, in an area under Israeli control, about 1.6 km from Israeli territory. A rapid evacuation route will be provided for soldiers in case of attack. The UN resolution that granted the World Council its authority provides for the creation of international stabilization forces for the Gaza Strip. Morocco has promised to send a small unit. However, the legal basis for the ISF's operations has not yet been fully established, so it is unknown when the deployment will begin. The Guardian also reviewed previous contract drafts, according to which the base for the Moroccan unit was to be the first phase of a larger military facility. That facility was designed for 5,000 ISF soldiers. The large base project included combat positions for vehicles, a protective berm around the perimeter, and basic infrastructure for short-term deployment. In the first phase, tents and field beds were planned, along with chemical toilets and hand-washing stations.