Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared on Friday that Idaho would be the site for a new Qatari air force installation.

“We are formalizing an agreement today to construct a facility for the Qatar Emiri Air Force at Idaho’s Mountain Home Airbase,” Hegseth informed journalists. He added, “This simply underscores our ongoing collaboration.”

According to Hegseth, the new base would accommodate a group of Qatari F-15 aircraft and their personnel.

Requests for further information regarding this agreement went unanswered by the White House initially.

This declaration coincided with Hegseth expressing gratitude to Qatar for its involvement in the peace discussions between Israel and Hamas. This week, Qatar, collaborating with the United States and Egypt, facilitated the cease-fire talks conducted in Egypt. President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that an initial stage of a cease-fire agreement had been reached by Israel and Hamas.

“Only President Trump could have brought about this peace—which we anticipate will be enduring—in Gaza, and Qatar provided significant support from the outset, collaborating with our teams to ensure its realization,” Hegseth stated on Friday.

By Friday, Israeli forces had relocated to the pre-arranged positions within the Gaza Strip. As per the agreement, Hamas is allotted 72 hours to free the remaining 48 Israeli captives, with an estimated 20 still believed to be alive.

Late in September, Trump formalized an order which declared that the “United States will consider any armed assault on the land, independence, or vital facilities of the State of Qatar as a menace to American peace and security.”

Several months prior, in a contentious decision, Trump obtained a lavish Boeing 747 aircraft from Qatar to serve as Air Force One. Democrats sought to prevent funding for converting the jet into Air Force One, but Republicans successfully opposed that initiative on Thursday.

Reporting by Nik Popli.