Donald Trump's Peace Council has awarded its first Gaza construction contract to Louisiana-based Arkel International to build a 150-person military outpost. The facility will house Moroccan troops in the damaged territory.
According to the Guardian, the contract has not yet been finalized. Arkel International previously worked with the United States government in countries including Iraq.
The US president chairs the Peace Council, which was founded in January to oversee Gaza's reconstruction. His son-in-law Jared Kushner and his friend Steve Witkoff belong to the team directing the body.
In an email, a Board of Peace official stated that the council and a team of Palestinian technocrats set up to oversee Gaza are in the final stages of preparing several contract awards, though none are finalized. The Palestinian group is known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
The official said one proposed contract involves facilities supporting the International Stabilization Force, which will assist in implementing the security and governance arrangements of the roadmap. The official added that this contract would be one of many necessary for Gaza's future.
The award comes days after Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm, despite serious uncertainties over how weapons would be handed over. Israel countered the plan and intensified airstrikes in Gaza immediately following Trump's announcement.
Outpost design and security arrangements
The Guardian reported that the council's initial reconstruction plan shrank dramatically from an ambitious effort across the whole region to a small pilot project in southern Gaza.
The planned base measures 100 by 120 meters and is intended to host a detachment of Moroccan soldiers rotating from a base in Israel. It will sit in the 60 percent of Gaza territory directly controlled by the Israeli military, which has also created a security zone beyond that area.
The source stated that the base will stand about one mile from the Israeli border and feature a rapid evacuation route in case the small force comes under attack.
A United Nations resolution authorizing the Peace Council approved creating an international stabilization force, though confusion remains over which countries will provide troops. Morocco promised a small detachment, but the legal framework for the International Stabilization Force has not been established and the deployment timeline is unclear.
Longer term plans and local conditions
Earlier draft contracts seen by the Guardian showed the 150-person base was phase one of a project to build a 5,000-person military base in Gaza for the stabilization force. That larger base would include vehicle fighting positions, a raised defensive mound perimeter, and basic facilities for short-term missions.
The earlier contract stated that phase one would provide tents and cots for sleeping, chemical toilets, and handwashing stations, describing those items as what would be considered habitable at that stage.
Trump announced in February 2025 that the US would take over and own Gaza, though the agreement establishing the Peace Council did not go that far.
At the council's first meeting in January, Kushner presented a master plan for New Gaza, describing a sprawling waterfront city of shiny mixed-use towers. He said the development could be a source of hope, a destination, and a center of industry.
At least 80 percent of Gaza's buildings were damaged or destroyed during the war. Ten months after the ceasefire, most of the region's 2 million residents still live in makeshift, unsanitary camps.
