US troops and allies at the newly established base for Gaza coordination have been under surveillance by Israeli operatives, drawing the irk of the US forces present there, a new report has revealed.
Forces present at the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Israel, a joint base that was established in October to monitor a Gaza ceasefire pushed for by US President Donald Trump, have been under widespread Israeli monitoring, The Guardian reported on Monday.
The report cites sources who have been “briefed on disputes about open and covert recordings of meetings and discussions.”
“The scale of intelligence gathering at the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) prompted the US commander of the base, Lt Gen Patrick Frank, to summon an Israeli counterpart for a meeting to tell him that ‘recording has to stop here,’” the report claimed.
It added that the matter was not only raised by the US forces there, but also by staff and visitors from other countries who “have also raised concerns about Israel recording inside the CMCC.”
“Some have been told to avoid sharing sensitive information because of the risk it could be collected and exploited,” The Guardian said.
‘Absurd’
According to the report, the Israeli army did not comment on Frank’s demands but said that the “conversations inside the CMCC are unclassified.”
“The IDF documents and summarizes meetings in which it is present through protocols, as any professional organization of this nature does in a transparent and agreed upon manner,” The Guardian said, quoting the Israeli military statement.
“The claim that the IDF is gathering intelligence on its partners in meetings which the IDF is an active participant is absurd.”
