ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The US Department of State on Friday announced former US Consul General in Erbil Steven Fagin as the civilian lead of a Gaza Civil-Military Cooperation Center, established days earlier by the US Central Command (CENTCOM), with the aim of supporting "stabilization efforts" amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

"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," wrote the State Department in a statement on Friday.

Fagin, a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service, has served as Ambassador to Yemen since 2022. The foreign diplomat has also previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Baghdad Embassy, in addition to his role as consul general in Erbil.

The Coordination Center "is designed to support stabilization efforts," wrote CENTCOM on Tuesday, announcing the center's opening. "US military personnel will not deploy into Gaza but will instead help facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical, and security assistance from international counterparts into Gaza."

The establishment comes amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, bringing an over two-year old war to an end, after a 20-point peace proposal by US President Donald Trump.

Creating a US-backed stabilization force was one of the cornerstones of Trump’s peace plan, with the relevant point asserting that "The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza."

The US had previously decided to provide over 200 personnel to support the stabilization force; however, it noted that they would not enter the Gaza Strip.

"Over the next two weeks, U.S. personnel will integrate representatives from partner nations, non-governmental organizations, international institutions, and the private sector as they arrive to the coordination center," CENTCOM quoted its Commander Admiral Brad Cooper as saying.

During a tour of the Coordination Center on Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the initiative as "an impressive center with a lot of important work that’s happening here."

"This is an historic mission," Rubio told reporters. "I mean, if you think about it, there’s nothing to model this after, because this has never happened before."

Israel's campaign on Gaza has killed over 68,000 Palestinians since its start, after a Hamas incursion into Israeli territory killed over 1,200 people.

According to an AFP tally, Hamas’ October 7 attacks killed 1,221 people, most of whom were civilians.