Baba UmarThe White House and the US military have rejected media reports that Washington plans to build a $500 million army base near Gaza’s separation fence with Israel, stressing that US President Donald Trump does not want to see boots on the ground with respect to Middle East situation.
"I checked with the highest levels of the United States federal government. This is not something the United States is interested in being engaged in," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Israeli media outlets, Ynet and Shomrim, claimed that the US was preparing to build a $500 million base near Gaza’s fence, stressing the site would host 10,000 people, including American troops.
Another paper Yedioth Ahronoth, citing unnamed Israeli officials, claimed the facility would mark "a significant escalation of US activity in Israel" and would be "the first large-scale American military installation on Israeli territory."
Bloomberg News also corroborated Israeli media reports, stating the US Navy sought details for a temporary American base near Gaza, potentially accommodating 10,000 personnel for a year.
Leavitt told reporters that the article stemmed from a Navy query about a potential future idea, based on a single document.
"I had a conversation directly with the reporter who wrote this article, and this article was based on a single piece of paper, an inquiry that somebody in the Department of Navy made about an idea that may happen in the future," Leavitt said.
"And this reporter deemed that as an official plan and ran with the story that the United States is looking into it."
Leavitt stated President Trump has made it clear he opposes deploying troops to address the Middle East situation.
"We've made great peace. We've made great progress with the peace plan in Gaza, and we want to continue to see that move forward," she said, adding, "I put a comment in that story for a reason, and sometimes we see reporters take a piece of paper like this and and just deem it as official policy and sometimes that misleads people a little bit."
CENTCOM rejects claims
The US military also refuted reports regarding a prospective military base.
"Reports of the establishment of a US military base near Gaza are inaccurate," CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said in a statement on Wednesday.
"To be clear, no US troops will be deployed into Gaza. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Currently, around 200 US military personnel are stationed at the US-backed Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in southern Israel to oversee the ceasefire in effect since October 10 but breached almost daily by Israel.
The truce is based on a 20-point plan proposed by US President Trump.
The United States recently circulated a draft text for a UN Security Council resolution that would provide a mandate for an International Stabilisation Force (or ISF) in Gaza for at least two years.
Arab and other nations want UN backing for the ISF plan before committing troops to stabilise Gaza during Israel's phased withdrawal.
The initial phase involves releasing Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners. Subsequent stages include Gaza's reconstruction and establishing a new governing body, excluding Hamas.
