US State Department appoints career diplomat to lead Gaza coordination hub

The US State Department on Friday appointed career foreign service officer and current ambassador to Yemen, Steven Fagin, as the civilian lead for a new centre tasked with implementing a peace deal in Gaza and facilitating humanitarian aid deliveries to the besieged enclave.

The announcement came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Civil-Military Coordination Center 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 Center, which is supporting the implementation of the President’s 20 Point Peace Plan for Gaza," the department said in a statement.