ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US Department of State on Friday announced that Steven Fagin, a former consul general in Erbil, has been appointed the civilian lead of a new body tasked with supporting the implementation of President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. “Ambassador Steven Fagin will serve as the civilian lead of the Civil-Military Coordination Center, which is supporting the implementation of the President’s 20-Point Peace Plan for Gaza,” the State Department said in a statement. Fagin, a career diplomat, currently serves as US ambassador to Yemen. He previously held key posts in Iraq, including deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Baghdad from 2020 to 2021 and principal officer at the consulate general in Erbil from 2018 to 2020. US Central Command (CENTCOM), the American military command in the Middle East, on Tuesday announced the establishment of the Civil-Military Coordination Center to support post-war stabilization efforts in Gaza. CENTCOM clarified that no US military personnel will be deployed inside Gaza. Instead, the center will facilitate humanitarian, logistical, and security coordination with international partners. Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire earlier this month, bringing an end to their two-year war. The first phase included the release of all hostages and an Israeli withdrawal to agreed-upon lines as steps toward what Trump called a “Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.” The conflict, the bloodiest in Gaza, began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise incursion into southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. In response, Israel launched a wide-scale military campaign. Nearly 68,000 Palestinians have been killed and about 170,000 injured in Israeli bombardments, according to the Gaza health ministry. A UN commission concluded that Israel committed genocide.
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