Gaza board awards first contract for military outpost: Report

WASHINGTON

Palestinian women and children go about their daily activities at a makeshift camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo)

A body established by U.S. President Donald Trump to oversee Gaza’s recovery has awarded its first construction contract, a project to build a small military outpost intended to house Moroccan troops as part of a planned international stabilization force, The Guardian reported on Aug. 7.

The contract was awarded to Louisiana-based Arkel International, a company that has previously carried out U.S. government projects in countries including Iraq, a person familiar with the matter told the daily.

Chaired by Trump and including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and close ally Steve Witkoff, the Board of Peace was created in January to support postwar arrangements in Gaza. The board said it was preparing several contracts but that none had been completed.

“One prospective contract concerns facilities to support the international stabilisation force (ISF), which will assist in implementing the roadmap’s security and governance arrangements,” a board official said in an email.

The planned facility would measure about 100 meters by 120 meters and accommodate around 150 Moroccan troops, who would rotate from a base in Israel, according to the source. It would be located in an area of Gaza under direct Israeli military control, roughly 1.6 kilometers from the Israeli border, with an emergency extraction route planned in case of an attack.

The U.N. resolution that authorized the Board of Peace also approved the creation of an international stabilization force for Gaza, though the legal framework for the force has not been finalized and the timing of any deployment remains unclear. Morocco has indicated it would contribute a small contingent.

The outpost is expected to serve as the first phase of a broader plan for a 5,000-person stabilization force base in Gaza, according to earlier contract documents reviewed by The Guardian. Initial facilities would include tents, sleeping areas, portable toilets and basic sanitation equipment.

The contract comes amid uncertainty over the future of Gaza after Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm, a move that has faced opposition from Israel and raised questions over how such a process would be carried out.