Instead, a senior US official said that there might be a “international presence” in the Palestinian enclave.
The White House has stated that US forces will not be stationed in Gaza either during or after the ongoing confrontation with Israel, denying rumours that US troops might be sent there on a peacekeeping assignment.
When asked if US forces would be employed to “stabilise the situation” in Gaza, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby replied in the negative during a press briefing on Wednesday.
He declared, “At this time or in the future, there are no plans or intentions to place US military troops on the ground in Gaza.” “However, we are discussing with our allies what a post-conflict Gaza ought to look like.”
Kirby continued, noting that no decisions had been taken on the matter, but that officials were thinking about “some sort of international presence” once the conflict in Gaza ends.
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Following Bloomberg’s story that Washington and Israel were debating whether to offer “temporary oversight to Gaza to countries from the region, backed by troops from the US, UK, Germany, and France,” the spokesman made his remarks. Though the preparations were still in the early stages, the publication added that at least two alternative options, including UN involvement, were being discussed.
Although Kirby disagreed with the notion of a US peacekeeping force in Gaza, he endorsed Israel’s military campaign to destroy Hamas, repeating earlier remarks made by the White House that the terrorist organisation “cannot be the future of governance in Gaza.” Concerning the future of the Palestinian enclave, the spokesperson stated that while officials “don’t have all the answers to that,” Hamas “cannot be the cause of whatever it is.”
Following a horrific Hamas terrorist strike on October 7 that left almost 1,400 Israelis dead, there was the most recent wave of violence. Over 8,800 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s heavy airstrikes and subsequent ground invasions into Gaza, according to Gazan officials, in the weeks that have passed. Despite international relief organisations’ dire warnings of an impending humanitarian crisis, the Israeli military has stated that its operation could go for months.
