Scoop: Trump plans to appoint U.S. general to lead Gaza security force

Breaking it down: The U.S. established a civil-military headquarters in Israel to monitor the ceasefire and coordinate humanitarian aid.

• The U.S. is leading the planning for the reconstruction of Gaza.
• Trump is expected to head the Gaza Board of Peace, and his top advisers will be members of an international executive board.
• Now, the U.S. will be in command of the enclave's security force.

Nevertheless, White House officials stress there will be no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza.

Driving the news: The ceasefire in Gaza is Trump's biggest second-term foreign policy achievement so far, but the truce is fragile and his administration wants to proceed to the second phase soon to avoid sliding back into war.

• The second phase of the deal involves the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pulling farther back, the ISF deploying to Gaza, and a new governing structure coming into force, including the Trump-led Board of Peace.
• The UN Security Council recently authorized both the ISF and the board.
• Trump told reporters Wednesday that he's planning to announce the Gaza Board of Peace in early 2026.

Behind the scenes: Two Israeli officials said UN Ambassador Mike Waltz, who visited Israel this week, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials that the Trump administration is going to lead the ISF and appoint a two-star general as its commander.

• "Waltz even said he knows the general personally and stressed he is a very serious guy," one Israeli official said.
• The Israeli officials said Waltz stressed that having an American general in charge of the ISF should give Israel confidence it will operate according to appropriate standards.
• Two U.S. officials confirmed that the plan is to appoint a U.S. general to lead the ISF.

The latest: A top contender for the role is Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, special operations commander for CENTCOM, a U.S. and an Israeli official said.

• Until a few months ago, Jeffers headed the U.S. mechanism to monitor the ceasefire in Lebanon.
• A White House official said no decision had been made.

State of play: U.S. officials say they're in the last stages of putting together the ISF and the new governance structure for Gaza.

• The U.S. has proposed that former UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov serve as Board of Peace representative on the ground in Gaza, working with a future Palestinian technocratic government, sources with knowledge said.
• The Trump administration has been quietly briefing Western countries about the Board of Peace and the ISF and inviting them to join. Two countries that have already been invited to join the board are Germany and Italy, according to two sources with direct knowledge.

• Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Egypt have previously expressed willingness to send soldiers to the ISF, though it's unclear whether that's still the case. It's also unclear if any Western countries will agree to send troops.

Friction point: The main reason for the hesitation is that many countries want to know whether Hamas will actually disarm voluntarily, and what the rules of engagement will be for the new force.

• The U.S. told European countries in recent days that the plan is to start deploying the ISF when the Board of Peace is in place, but no clear timeline was given, a European diplomat said.
• U.S. officials stressed in a briefing to European diplomats in Tel Aviv on Monday that if their countries won't send soldiers to the ISF or support the countries that do, the Israeli military won't withdraw from the areas of Gaza it still occupies.
• "The message was: 'If you are not ready to go to Gaza, don't complain that the IDF stays,'" the European diplomat with knowledge of the briefing said.

What they're saying: A White House official said there have been discussions around the composition of the ISF, the Board of Peace, and a technocratic Palestinian government, "but no definitive decisions have been made or communicated."