‘They’re trying to get rich off it’: US contractors vie to rebuild Gaza, with ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ team in the lead

Key Highlights

• And the mandate of the new Civil-Military Coordination Center is limited. Parallel to these official efforts, the White House has established its own Gaza taskforce led by Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and Aryeh Lightstone. The Guardian has learned that two former Doge officials – once assigned to Elon Musk’s effort to slash government and fire federal workers in bulk – are leading the group’s conversations about humanitarian assistance and the postwar reconstruction of Gaza.
• They have circulated slide decks with detailed plans for logistics operations, including prices, financial projections and the locations of potential warehouses. US companies are gathering for the spoils.
• One contender, the Guardian has learned, is Gothams LLC, a politically connected contractor that won a $33m contract to help run the notorious south Florida detention center nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz”, where immigrants are housed in tents and trailers. Documents and three people familiar with the plans say that the contractor had an “inside track” to secure what might be the most lucrative contract it’s ever had.
• But in an interview on Friday, after questions from the Guardian, the company’s founder, Matt Michelsen, said he had reconsidered his company’s participation and was pulling out, citing security concerns. Eddie Vasquez, a spokesperson for the White House Gaza taskforce, did not provide answers to detailed questions about the White House-led process.
• He said in an email that this story “illustrates a fundamental ignorance of how the Gaza team operates and the current state of play.