LONDON: Egypt is expected to take the lead in an international stabilization force being developed to oversee security inside Gaza under a proposed UN Security Council mandate backed by the US and European partners, according to diplomatic sources.
The proposed force, which would have broad powers similar to those granted to international troops in Haiti to combat armed groups, is being shaped as part of a European and US-backed UN motion, The Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday.
Washington is said to favor a UN mandate for the mission, without establishing it as a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation.
Turkiye, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan are among the countries being lined up as key troop contributors alongside Egypt.
While no European or British troops are expected to participate, the UK has deployed advisers to a coordination unit operated by the US inside Israel, The Guardian also reported.
The unit is tasked with helping implement the second phase of a 20-point plan drafted by US President Donald Trump.
British officials have underlined that the long-term objective remains the establishment of a Palestinian state encompassing Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
The UK has already been training a contingent of Palestinian police officers, but under the new proposal the international force would take the lead on security responsibilities.
Should the operation prove effective, Israel would withdraw further from areas of Gaza, although Israeli officials insist that a significant buffer zone will remain under their control to guard against future Hamas attacks.
Diplomatic sources acknowledge that one of the most contentious elements of the plan involves the decommissioning of Hamas weapons and British officials are drawing on lessons from Northern Ireland’s peace process, where weapons controlled by both the IRA and loyalist groups were put beyond use under independent supervision.
The UK also appears to support a role for its former prime minister Tony Blair on a newly proposed “board of peace,” outlined in Trump’s plan, which would oversee the work of a 15-member committee of Palestinian technocrats.
Blair’s potential appointment has drawn backing from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who told CNBC during a recent interview: “Tony Blair is a person acceptable to the Iraqis and a friend, having contributed to the decision to go to war with President Bush, at the time, and to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime.”
He added: “(Blair) is a great friend of the Iraqis and visits us often and I also hold meetings with him. We certainly wish him success in this mission and we will support him.”
Blair’s position on the board, which will be chaired by Trump, is expected to be confirmed by early November, ahead of a major reconstruction conference in Cairo that Egypt will host to mobilize donor and private sector funding for Gaza’s recovery.
Officials say the cost of rebuilding Gaza is estimated to exceed $67 billion, requiring not only contributions from Gulf donors but also significant private investment.
Questions remain over the precise relationship between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the proposed board.
PA Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian said her government had learned from past mistakes and was intent on reform.
Speaking at a conference in Naples organized by Italian think tank IPSI, she said one of the PA’s key initiatives was overhauling its education curriculum.
“If we develop that curriculum to the best standards of the world but children that are taught that curriculum continue to live under dire occupation, will that give them a narrative of peace? No,” she said.
“What will bring them a narrative of peace, and internalize it, is when children do not experience, on a daily basis, checkpoints, a humiliation, trees being uprooted, the farms being burned and the fathers killed.”
