Israel to decide which foreign troops secure truce: PM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will determine which foreign forces it will allow as part of the international force planned to be established in the Gaza Strip to help ensure a fragile ceasefire under US President Donald Trump’s plan.
It remains unclear whether Arab and other states will be ready to send troops, as Palestinian Hamas militants have refused to disarm as required by the plan and Israel has expressed concerns about the structure of the force.
While the Trump administration refuses to send US soldiers to the Gaza Strip, it is meeting with Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute to the international force.
“Our security is under our control, and we have also made it clear that regarding international forces, Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and that is how we operate and will continue to operate,” Netanyahu said. he said.
“This can of course also be accepted by the United States, as its most senior representatives have stated in recent days,” he told a session of his cabinet. he said.
Israel, which has besieged the Gaza Strip for two years to support the air and ground war in the region against Hamas following the Palestinian militant group’s cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, continues to control all access to the region.
Last week, Netanyahu hinted that he would oppose Turkish security forces playing any role in the region.
Once warm Turkish-Israeli relations soured sharply during the Gaza Strip war, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticizing Israel’s devastating air and ground offensive against the tiny Palestinian enclave.
During his visit to Israel to strengthen the ceasefire, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the international force should consist of “countries that Israel is comfortable with.”
He did not make any comments regarding Türkiye’s intervention.
Rubio added that future governance of the Gaza Strip still needs to be resolved between Israel and partner countries, but that cannot include Hamas.
Rubio later said U.S. officials were consulting on a possible United Nations resolution or international agreement to authorize the multinational force and would discuss the issue Sunday in Qatar, a key mediator.
The biggest challenge to Trump’s plan is Hamas’ hesitance to disarmament.
Since the ceasefire took effect two weeks ago as the first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan, Hamas has launched a violent crackdown against clans testing its power.
At the same time, the remains of 13 deceased hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, with Hamas citing obstacles to locating them amid widespread rubble left by the fighting.
Hamas, which has released the remaining 20 living hostages it took in an October 2023 attack, knows where the bodies are, an Israeli government spokesman said on Sunday.
“Israel is aware that Hamas knows the real whereabouts of our dead hostages. If Hamas makes more efforts, they can take back the remains of our hostages,” the spokesman said.
However, Israel allowed entry to an Egyptian technical team who would work with the Red Cross to locate the bodies.
He said the team would use excavator machines and trucks to search beyond the so-called yellow line in the strip where Israeli troops initially retreated under the ceasefire plan.
