The United States has failed to recruit substantial troop contingents for the proposed 20,000-strong international stabilisation force (ISF) for Gaza.
This has delivered a major blow to US president Donald Trump’s peace proposal for Gaza and the Middle East that he proclaimed during the October 13th summit at Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheikh.
Trump’s aim was to remove Gaza from the global agenda, promote Arab normalisation with Israel and focus on Russia’s war on Ukraine.
This has not worked out so far.
RM Block
After initially offering troops, Indonesia, Qatar, Egypt, Italy and Azerbaijan have expressed reservations due to a lack of clarity over the ISF mission while Arab Gulf states flatly refuse to provide soldiers.
Arab and Muslim contributors do not want the ISF to battle Palestinian fighters in the streets of Gaza or to become a second foreign occupation force at a time when the Israeli army remains in control of 53 per cent of the strip.
This could ignite popular protests across the Arab world, challenging Arab autocrats.
The stalemate over the ISF has stalled the transition from phase one to phase two in Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza war and provide for the future of the strip within a Palestinian state, although Palestinian statehood has been flatly rejected by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
When accepting Trump’s plan, Hamas agreed to release hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and to hand over the administration of Gaza to a committee of Palestinian technocrats but refused to disarm or cede influence in the strip.
Instead of giving up or placing its heavy weapons out of reach, Hamas has held on to arms, secured fresh weaponry and stepped up efforts to provide security and services to Palestinians who live in the sector of the enclave the group holds.
Having secured freedom for Palestinian prisoners, a ceasefire and a return of Palestine to the global stage, Hamas has gained popularity in both Gaza and the West Bank.
An October poll taken by the Ramallah-based Centre for Policy and Survey Research showed majorities in Gaza and the West Bank are satisfied with Hamas’s performance during the war and 87 per cent of West Bankers and 55 per cent of Gazans do not want Hamas to disarm.
Without ISF deployment and the disarmament of Hamas, Israel has refused to withdraw its forces, preventing the takeover by a Palestinian administration and blocking reconstruction.
This leaves Gaza and its 2.2 million Palestinian residents inlimbo against the backdrop of dire humanitarian conditions and a fragile ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeated violations.
On Wednesday night, an Israeli air strike killed five Palestinians, including two children, at a camp for displaced families in southern Gaza, a hospital said.
Israel’s military said it had targeted a “Hamas terrorist” in retaliation for an earlier attack in Gaza that wounded five Israeli soldiers.
