The Secret Partnership

Over the past three years, facilitated by the United States, senior military officials from Israel and six Arab countries came together for a series of planning meetings in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar—all while their political leaders publicly condemned Israeli actions in Gaza.

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of a peace framework that would result in the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. U.S. officials announced on Thursday that 200 U.S. troops would be deployed to Israel to provide support to the ceasefire agreement, and would be joined by soldiers from several of the Arab countries that participated in this long-standing security cooperation.

Behind Closed Doors in Qatar

Qatar, whose capital was struck on Sept. 9 by Israeli missiles targeting Hamas leaders, was one of the countries that had quietly strengthened ties with the Israeli military. In May 2024, the documents show, senior Israeli and Arab military officials convened at Al Udeid Air Base, a major U.S. military facility in Qatar.

A planning document for the event, written two days before it was to begin, shows that the Israeli delegation was scheduled to fly directly to the airbase, circumventing Qatar’s civilian points of entry that could have risked public exposure.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Qatar on Sept. 29 for the strike, after prompting from the Trump administration, and pledged not to conduct such attacks in the future.

Iran: The Common Enemy

The documents show that the threat posed by Iran was the driving force behind the closer ties, which have been fostered by the U.S. military’s Central Command, known as CENTCOM. One document describes Iran and its allied militias as the “Axis of Evil,” and another includes a map with missiles superimposed over Gaza and Yemen, where Iranian allies hold power.

The Public Contradiction

Even as security cooperation with Israel expanded behind closed doors, Arab leaders denounced its war in Gaza with some of the strongest language seen in recent diplomatic history.

In a nod to political sensitivities, the leaked documents state that the partnership “does not form a new alliance” and that all meetings would be “held in confidence.”

The Air Defense Network

The documents show how the centerpiece of the construct, an air-defense plan to combat Iran’s missiles and drones, moved from theory to reality over the past three years. By 2024, CENTCOM successfully linked many of the partner states to its systems, allowing them to provide radar and sensor data to the U.S. military and, in turn, view the combined data of the partners.

However, the air-defense system did nothing to protect Qatar against Israel’s Sept. 9 strike on its capital. U.S. satellite and radar systems did not provide an early warning of the strike, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Derek France told reporters, because those systems “are typically focused on Iran and other [areas] where we expect an attack to come from.”

Saudi Arabia’s Active Role

While Qatar and Saudi Arabia do not have formal diplomatic relationships with Israel, the CENTCOM documents show the important behind-the-scenes role that both powerful Gulf states played in this nascent partnership.

Saudi Arabia played an active role in this collaboration, sharing intelligence with Israel and Arab partners on a broad range of security issues. In a 2025 meeting, a Saudi official and a U.S. intelligence official provided an “intelligence overview” to partners on political developments in Syria, including the role played by Russia, Turkey and Kurdish forces in the country.

Future Plans and the Gaza Ceasefire

CENTCOM military planners are working to foster closer ties between Israel and Arab states in the years ahead. A 2024 briefing document envisioned the creation of a “Combined Middle East Cyber Center” by the end of 2026 to serve as a headquarters for education and exercises on defensive cyber operations.

Even before the U.S. announcement about troop deployment, the Arab countries involved in this security collaboration had all signaled their support for Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza war. The plan calls for Arab states to participate in the deployment of an international force to Gaza that would train a new Palestinian police force in the region.

The Road Ahead

Israel and Hamas appeared to have only agreed to the initial phases of a peace deal, leaving broader questions about how Gaza is to be governed unresolved. Security analysts said Gulf states could provide financial and diplomatic support for an international force in Gaza but would probably refrain from committing their own military forces to the complex and dangerous mission.