Egypt expected to lead four-nation Gaza stabilisation force

Sources say force envisaged in Trump peace plan to comprise at least 4,000 troops

US President Donald Trump speaking to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and other regional and European leaders in Sharm El Sheikh last week. Getty Images

Egypt is expected to lead a four-nation Gaza “stabilisation” force envisaged by US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan for the war-devastated enclave, sources told The National.

They said the International Stabilisation Force will be made up of at least 4,000 troops from Egypt, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Indonesia. Egypt, in collaboration with the US, will be seeking a UN Security Council resolution establishing the force and spelling out its mandate, they added.

Egypt and Nato member Turkey are long-time US allies, while Azerbaijan and Indonesia have close relations with Washington. It is not known if the US or any of the four nations has already put in an official request or presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to vote on. But the sources said this could happen within days rather than weeks.

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Already, the sources said, it has been decided that the force will not have heavy weapons, and will rely mainly on self-defence firearms and armoured vehicles. The force, whose mandate would be akin to that of a peacekeeping contingent, would initially be deployed in areas from which Israel's military had withdrawn under the first phase of President Trump's plan, explained the sources.

They said the force would later expand its area of deployment when Israel's military enacts further withdrawals under Mr Trump's plan. The force will not enter the proposed Israel-held security strip that will run on the Gaza side of the border, as deep to 1.5km in some areas.

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The proposed force will be working alongside an estimated 3,000 Palestinians nominated by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians will take charge of intelligence-gathering and preventive security in Gaza, said the sources. Some of them have already been trained by Egypt and Jordan.

Included in the mandate of the proposed force is overseeing the establishment of field hospitals to compensate for the significant damage sustained by the territory's health facilities. It's also mandated to repair bakeries and other vital infrastructure sites.

Mourners react as bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire are brought to a hospital in Deir El Balah. AP

It will also oversee search and rescue operations to unearth the bodies of Palestinians still buried under the rubble in Gaza, said the sources. These are estimated to number in the low thousands.

No official confirmation was immediately available from any of the four participating countries or the US and Israel on the details divulged by the sources, who spoke less than two weeks after a US-brokered truce paused the Gaza war. The ceasefire was celebrated in a gathering in Egypt on October 13 that brought together 30-plus world leaders, including Mr Trump.

Also under the plan, Hamas last week freed 20 living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians who had been detained in Israel.

Hamas is also in the process of releasing the remains of about 28 hostages who died in captivity but is facing logistical difficulties in locating and exhuming them. The sources said many of the remains were buried in underground tunnels that have since been destroyed in Israeli strikes, making access to the sites of their burial difficult.

Specialist military teams from Egypt and Qatar are said by the sources to be inside Gaza and ready to help Hamas locate and exhume the bodies of the remaining hostages. The teams, to be joined by one from Turkey, have been waiting for Israel to give the green light for the entry of the heavy equipment they need to carry out the task.

The deployment of the stabilisation force is part of the second phase of Mr Trump's plan, which includes potentially problematic steps such as the disarming of Hamas, the negotiation of a long-term ceasefire, the future of Hamas and the governing of postwar Gaza.

US President Donald Trump during last week's peace summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. AP

Already, the ceasefire is coming under significant strain, with Israel on Sunday warning it may carry out additional strikes against Hamas in response to what it described as the group's “violations” of the truce.

A military official briefed reporters and said there were at least three incidents on Sunday in which Hamas fired towards Israeli troops behind the “yellow line” behind which Israeli forces pulled back under the ceasefire agreement. The warning came just hours after the Israeli army launched air strikes in southern Gaza in response to attacks it claimed were carried out by Hamas militants against its forces.

More challenges to the ceasefire lie ahead. Hamas is refusing to disarm and instead is suggesting it lays down and stores its offensive weapons under Egyptian supervision. Another ominous sign surfaced when the group's fighters took over security on the streets of Gaza's cities after Israel's pullback last week. They also carried out public executions of Palestinians the group said had spied for Israel.

The war in Gaza was triggered by a Hamas-led attack against southern Israel that claimed 1,200 lives. The assailants also took 250 others hostage.

Israel responded to the deadliest day in its history with a relentless military campaign that has to date killed close to 70,000 Palestinians and wounded more than twice that number, according to Gaza's health authorities. Most built-up areas in Gaza have been laid to waste, and many of its 2.3 million residents faced displacement, hunger, and, in some areas, famine.