Gaza plan hits snag as Israel bars Ankara from proposed stabilization force Palestinian envoy says

The Israeli side has rejected the possible participation of Ankara in “stabilisation forces” for Gaza, and Russia’s involvement is not envisaged, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia, Abdel Hafiz Nofal, stated in an interview with TASS.

The current Gaza peace plan of US President Donald Trump envisages, at the second stage of the settlement, the creation of international “stabilisation forces” in Gaza. As the ambassador noted, “serious efforts are being made to establish these forces, but their mandate remains unclear: how, where, and when they are supposed to operate.”

“In this context, many states that had previously expressed readiness to participate are now trying to step back from their stated positions. At present, only two countries are being mentioned — Indonesia and Italy — while agreement from other states is still awaited, especially given that Israel has rejected Turkey’s participation in these forces,” he stressed. “Russia is not part of this format.”

According to the Palestinian diplomat, the main disagreements within this initiative centre on whether the role of these forces would be to separate areas controlled by the Israeli army or to focus on disarming Hamas. “The situation remains stalled,” the ambassador noted. “At the same time, it is important to emphasise that a number of countries involved in or considering participation in these forces, including the Arab Republic of Egypt, support the formation of peacekeeping forces rather than a mission limited solely to the disarmament of Hamas.”

On Trump’s plan

On December 18, the US outlet Axios, citing sources, reported that delegations from Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye would discuss the second stage of the Gaza settlement with US President’s special envoy Steven Witkoff on December 23 in Miami, Florida. According to the outlet, the talks are expected to include the foreign ministers of Egypt and Türkiye, as well as the prime minister of Qatar.

On October 9, Israel and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas, with mediation by Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Türkiye, agreed to implement the first stage of the peace plan presented by US President Donald Trump. A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip came into force the following day. In accordance with the agreement, Israeli forces withdrew to the so-called yellow line, retaining control over more than 50 per cent of the enclave’s territory. On October 13, Hamas released 20 living Israeli hostages and handed over the remains of four of the 28 captives. As of December 20, the body of one Israeli soldier, killed on October 7, 2023, remains in the enclave.

As previously reported by Axios, Trump plans to announce the launch of the second stage of the Gaza settlement before December 25. The second phase of the deal envisages the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave, the deployment of international stabilisation forces, and the launch of governance structures for Gaza, including the so-called Peace Council.