US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Israel on Friday in hopes of getting both Israeli military forces and Hamas militants to respect the shaky ceasefire in Gaza.
Rubio arrived in Israel one day after Vice President JD Vance visited the Jewish state and said that the quick creation of an international peacekeeping force would be key to seeing the deal through.
Such a force is specified in the text of the current peace plan put forth by US President Donald Trump and agreed upon by both Hamas and Israel.
Fighting has quieted in Gaza since the ceasefire was signed on October 10 — two years after the war began with Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel — but the situation remains tense as the humanitarian catastrophe grinds on.
At the moment, it remains unclear which countries will be sending soldiers to help safeguard the truce.
“There’s a lot of countries that have offered to do it. Obviously as you put together this force, it will have to be people that Israel is comfortable with,” Rubio said on Friday, emphasizing that Israel would retain the power to reject contributions from particular countries.
Among those nations that have volunteered are Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation; the UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020; and Turkey, which was the first Muslim country to recognize Israeli sovereignty but whose president has been extremely critical of Israel while maintaining friendly ties to Hamas.
Israel has reportedly rejected a plan that would see Turkish troops coming to Gaza.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday urged the US and others to push Israel over its own ceasefire violations, suggesting, “Israel must be forced to keep its promises via sanctions, halting of arms sales.”
Rubio told reporters that the US may seek UN sponsorship of the mission, making it possible for nations who require a UN mission mandate before they can legally deploy troops.
There are currently 200 US troops deployed to Israel, where they are running the Civil-Military Coordination Center to facilitate aid deliveries, among other things.
Rubio on Friday said work is underway to create conditions for “the stabilization force to arrive as soon as possible.”
On Friday, several Palestinian factions, including Hamas — which is not to have a role in any future government under the deal — agreed in Cairo, Egypt, to the establishment of a temporary Palestinian committee of independent technocrats to, “manage the affairs of life and basic services in cooperation with Arab brothers and international institutions.”
A statement released Friday called for a meeting of all forces and factions to “agree on a national strategy and to revitalize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”
Though Hamas, which is not part of the PLO, has renounced all governing ambition, it has been loath to commit to disarming.
Rubio said that if Hamas refused to lay down its weapons it would be in violation of the ceasefire, adding, “We want a Gaza Strip where people can live without Hamas, where they have jobs, prosperity and opportunities.”
Rubio also said it remains unclear whether the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, will be part of any upcoming Gaza government — something Israel has staunchly opposed to date.
Secretary of State Rubio on Friday also made clear that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN aid agency, would not be active in Gaza now that fighting has stopped.
The US has branded UNRWA an arm of Hamas, something the UN has vehemently denied. UNRWA was among several international aid agencies that Israel banned from Gaza.
More than 68,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the health officials in the Palestinian enclave.
Most of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents were forced to flee their homes in the Israeli offensive. Now, they are returning to find piles of rubble and a total lack of sanitation, food and medical assistance. – DW.
