International troops won’t want to enforce Gaza peace, says King of Jordan

Jordan’s King Abdullah told the BBC that the countries would reject demands that they “enforce” peace in Gaza if they were deployed under Trump’s ceasefire plan.

Under US President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Arab states and international partners will deploy stabilization forces that will “train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza and consult with Jordan and Egypt, which have extensive experience in this field.” Hamas will disarm and give up political control of the region.

“What is the mission of the security forces in Gaza? And we hope it is for peacekeeping, because if it is for peacekeeping, no one wants to touch it,” King Abdullah said.

Jordan and Egypt are willing to train Palestinian security forces, he said in an exclusive interview with BBC Panorama.

“Peacekeeping means sitting there and supporting the local police force Palestinians, which Jordan and Egypt are willing to train in large numbers, but that takes time. If we’re patrolling Gaza with weapons, that’s not a situation any country wants to be involved in.”

The king’s comments reflect U.S. and other nations’ concerns about being dragged into an ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel or Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

King Abdullah said he would not send Jordanian forces to Gaza because his country was “too politically close” to the situation. More than half of Jordan’s population is of Palestinian origin, and for decades the country has accepted 2.3 million Palestinian refugees who fled previous wars with Israel; This is the largest number in the region.

Asked if he trusted Hamas to keep its promise to give up any political role in Gaza, he said: “I don’t know them, but those who work very closely with them, Qatar and Egypt, are very, very optimistic that they will comply.

“If we cannot solve this problem, if we cannot find a future for Israelis and Palestinians, and if we cannot find a relationship between the Arab and Muslim world and Israel, we are doomed.”

The main mediation efforts during the war were carried out by Qatar and Egypt, working with the United States.

Jordanians are part of an international effort trying to deliver aid to Gaza and evacuate sick and injured children. The King flew over the region on three missions, dropping relief supplies by parachute.

“Looking over the back ramp was shocking,” he said. “The destruction of that part of Gaza was just a shock to me.

“I’ve seen this myself and it’s mind-boggling that we as the international community allow this to happen.”

The King asked President Trump for support in evacuating 2,000 seriously ill Palestinian children from Gaza. At a meeting with Jordan’s ruler at the White House in February, Mr. Trump called it a “beautiful gesture.”

Since then, 253 children have been evacuated to Jordan. In total, more than 5,000 people were medically evacuated; most of them were sent to Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. More than 15,000 Gazans, including nearly 3,000 children, are still awaiting evacuation, according to the World Health Organization.

To remove the children and their guardians from the area, they must undergo an extensive security check by Israel and their host countries. The World Health Organization described the process as “excruciatingly slow”. Cogat, the Israeli military group that oversees aid to Gaza, insists it attaches “great importance” to facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza, including the evacuation of patients with “complex medical conditions”. He emphasizes the need for security checks on persons passing through Israeli territory.

In an interview with Panorama, Queen Rania of Jordan criticized the international community for, in her words, not being able to stop the war for two years.

“Do you know what it’s been like to be a parent for the last two years? Watching your children suffer, starve, tremble in terror, and be powerless to do anything about it, and know that the whole world is watching and do nothing about it. This nightmare is every parent’s nightmare, but this nightmare has been the daily reality for Palestinians for the last two years.”

The Queen, who is of Palestinian origin, praised President Trump for his efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. He said America was using its diplomatic, military and financial support as leverage against Israel.

“To his credit, Trump was the first president in a long time to actually put pressure on Israel. Previously, when they crossed the line, the US president could simply scold the US president with a few words or give him a slap on the wrist. President Trump was indeed [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu effectively agreed to a ceasefire. And I hope he continues to be involved in that process.”

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of prolonging the war by refusing to release Israeli hostages and said the organisation, which is banned as a terrorist organization by the UK, US and EU, was using civilians as human shields in Gaza. More than 68,000 people have been killed since Israel invaded Gaza, according to the region’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel’s invasion followed the Hamas attack on Gaza on October 7, in which more than 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, were killed and 251 people were taken hostage. Since then, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes; however, Hamas later confirmed that he was killed in an airstrike.

The signing of the Trump ceasefire agreement also saw the release of 20 Israeli hostages living in Gaza and efforts to recover the remains of the dead. Israel has released 250 Palestinian prisoners convicted of crimes including murder and deadly attacks on Israelis and nearly 1,700 detainees from Gaza who were held by Israel without charge.

When I asked Queen Rania if she believed a lasting peace was possible, she said it wasn’t naivety, it was a form of defiance.

“I truly believe that Palestinians and Israelis can exist side by side,” he said. “In the current atmosphere, there is too much hostility, too much anger, grief, hatred and cynicism between the two peoples to achieve peace on their own. I am not naive here. But with pressure from the international community, I think this is the only way.”

“So many times over the past two years, hope has felt elusive. Choosing hope wasn’t easy…hard, heavy. But it’s the only path that doesn’t deny the Palestinians, that doesn’t betray their struggle or our humanity.”

With additional reporting by Alice Doyard, Suha Kawar, David McIlveen and Liam Connell.