Section 925 of the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

Sec. 925 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2027 was introduced by Senator Wicker (R-MS) on June 15th, 2026. It is currently pending before the U.S. Senate.

Related legislation: H.R.8800

Bill Summary: Sec. 925 authorizes the Secretary of Defense to maintain and operate the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Israel until December 31, 2027. The CMCC is an implementation body for the Board of Peace, which oversees the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, and a joint civil-military coordination body within the Department of Defense.

The Section requires a report to Congress by March 1, 2027 laying out the CMCC’s role in planning and coordinating civil-military activities relating to security, stabilization, and reconstruction efforts in Gaza. It requires the goals of that plan to be the permanent disarmament of Hamas; the exclusion of Hamas from Gaza’s government; the elimination of Hamas’ access to financial and material resources, including  humanitarian aid; and the training of an International Stabilization Force (ISF). Sec. 925 also mandates that the report outline the CMCC’s mission, personnel structure, director’s responsibilities, funding, relationship to the Board of Peace, and support for the ISF and Palestinian security forces. Finally, Sec. 925 requires the Secretary of Defense – in partnership with the Commander of CENTCOM – to report to the same Committees every 180 days on the CMCC’s progress, impact, and efficacy.

Context: Is the CMCC a humanitarian assistance coordination cell, a military training mission, or a political-military organization with a mission of defeating Hamas? Each of these is a goal for the CMCC laid out by Sec. 925, and they are inherently incompatible with each other, while at the same time lacking any form of accountability for ensuring Israel’s compliance with the terms of the ceasefire.

Directing the goals of the CMCC to include disarming Hamas and keeping it out of Palestinian governance in Gaza threatens to make the U.S. a party to the conflict in Gaza, and makes any humanitarian assistance or reconstruction role the CMCC may play inherently politicized, undermining both the effectiveness and credibility of the organization. Similarly, giving the organization a role that presumes the outcome of future diplomatic negotiations - and political negotiations within the Palestinian community - the concurrent responsibility of training an international security force that will operate in Palestinian territory biases and undermines the entire project, and again exposes the United States to the risk of slipping into more active military conflict.

The absence of a mandate in this Section to in any way monitor or address Israel’s own compliance with the ceasefire is a further concern. Since the October 2025 ceasefire took effect, the Israeli government has continued to expand control of the Gaza Strip rather than withdraw as the plan requires. This shows the gap between Israel's commitments and its governing coalition's intentions, and emphasizes the detrimental impact the CMCC will have on the U.S.’ international legitimacy.

There may arguably be a role for military logistical support to humanitarian operations in Gaza; there may even be a defensible role for an international security presence. What there is not - and what this legislation creates - is a role for the U.S. as a political actor, a (one-sided) enforcer, a trainer, and a humanitarian coordinator. This approach undermines the effectiveness of the most important mission, humanitarian assistance; weakens the attractiveness of the enterprise to international partners; and creates a slippery slope for the U.S. to fall deeper into complicity with Israel’s illegal conflict in Gaza.  

American Values Analysis: The United States has long supported humanitarian operations around the world on the basis of neutrality. Politicizing such assistance inherently prioritizes some lives over others, which runs counter to American values.

American Interest Analysis: Sec. 925 unconditionally supports the Israeli government, places no emphasis on Israel’s compliance with the “20-Point Peace Plan,” and essentially makes a U.S. military organization a proxy for Israel’s own military and political objectives. 

A New Policy’s Recommendation: OPPOSE

A New Policy opposes S.4784, Sec. 925, because the CMCC is incapable of serving the role the legislation envisions for it: a body mandated to disarm and defeat Hamas cannot simultaneously act as the neutral coordinator and humanitarian facilitator. The result is a provision that pursues a military-political objective not as a corollary of humanitarian assistance, but in direct opposition to it, creating significant - and entirely unnecessary - force protection and geopolitical risk for the U.S..

For more information please contact: Josh Paul, (202) 770-0055, infor@anewpolicy.org