US appoints Yemen ambassador to lead Gaza coordination centre

The US State Department has appointed has appointed the current ambassador to Yemen and career foreign service officer, Steven Fagin, as the civilian lead for a new centre it has established to implement the ceasefire deal in Gaza, the department said in a statement.

The announcement came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Civil-Military Coordination Centre in southern Israel, and pledged that more US diplomats would be joining the roughly 200 US military personnel posted there.

"Ambassador Steven Fagin will serve as the civilian lead of the Civil-Military Coordination Centre, which is supporting the implementation of the President’s 20 Point Peace Plan for Gaza," the department said.

The centre was opened this week by the US Central Command, with Patrick Frank, commander of US Army Central, appointed as its military lead.

Fagin has served as US ambassador to Yemen since 2022, although he has performed the role from outside the country, as Washington does not recognise the Houthi government in Sanaa.

Reporting by Reuters