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Phase II of the Gaza Agreement: The American Vision and Israel's Security Considerations
(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Col. (res.) Eldad Shavit - The series of visits by senior U.S. administration officials to Israel, alongside the deployment of American forces at the forward headquarters in Kiryat Gat overseeing the Gaza ceasefire agreement, reflect President Trump's strong commitment to ensuring the agreement's success. Despite broad understandings between Jerusalem and Washington, the American determination to accelerate implementation may generate significant gaps between the sides. The U.S. favors an international mechanism under its supervision to ensure a phased disarmament process alongside a gradual Israeli withdrawal. Israel insists on complete dismantling of terrorist infrastructure as a precondition for any change in troop deployment and rejects parallel or reciprocal frameworks. Washington, backed by Arab states, tends to soften the condition that the interim governing body be fully detached from the Palestinian Authority, while Israel opposes the inclusion of figures affiliated with it or with Hamas and demands binding security guarantees before reducing the IDF's presence. Moreover, Israel conditions any reconstruction step on the completion of disarmament and strict security oversight, rejecting the transfer of funds before "the military threat is completely removed." The second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement places U.S.-Israel relations in a delicate test between an American political vision and Israel's imperative to maintain security control. While Trump views the agreement as a lever for building a new regional order, Israel's priority remains safeguarding its security and operational independence. The writer, a senior researcher at INSS, previously served in senior roles in Israeli Defense Intelligence and the Mossad.