Assessing peacekeepers for Gaza, the US and Israel – Bloomberg

According to reports, the allies are debating the possibility of stationing an international force in the Palestinian enclave.

According to Bloomberg, US and Israeli officials are considering the possibility of deploying US troops to the Gaza Strip as part of an international peacekeeping mission in the event that Israel is successful in ousting Hamas from power.

As Israel intensifies its offensive assault on the Palestinian enclave, the two nations have been “exploring options” for Gaza’s future, including a number of alternative peacekeeping arrangements, officials familiar with the negotiations told the outlet on Tuesday.

“One option would be to give regional countries, supported by US, UK, German, and French troops, temporary oversight over Gaza.” Representatives from Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would ideally be included, according to Bloomberg.

Although the sources emphasised that the talks are still in the early stages, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a suggestion to lawmakers recently that Washington is heavily involved in the preparations, raising suspicions about the matter.

A return to the pre-Hamas state in Gaza is not possible. At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, he added, “We also can’t have Israel running or controlling Gaza—and the Israelis start with this proposition themselves.” “We’re currently looking very closely at a variety of possible permutations between those shoals, as are other countries.”

Blinken did not go into detail about those options, but insiders told Bloomberg that they also included the establishment of a peacekeeping force that would be based on the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), which is responsible for monitoring parts of the Sinai Peninsula under the terms of the 1979 peace accord between Israel and Egypt. According to one official, the Israeli government thinks the proposal is “worthy of consideration.”

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In a third agreement, Gaza would be given “temporary governance” by the UN; however, reports indicate that Israeli officials are not as thrilled about the concept, considering it “impractical.”

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared that Israel was conducting a ground assault in the Palestinian enclave with the goal of “destroying Hamas” and establishing a new “security regime.” He underlined that Israel shouldn’t be in charge of “day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip,” implying that it would want to transfer authority to another entity.

According to Bloomberg, US President Joe Biden is still a long way from making a decision and is reluctant to put “even a small contingent of American troops in harm’s way.” Although US officials have talked about the need to create a sovereign Palestinian state following the present conflict, the specifics of how to accomplish that aim “have barely featured in discussions,” according to the White House.

Following a horrific Hamas terrorist strike on October 7 that claimed the lives of almost 1,400 Israelis, the majority of whom were civilians, there was a recent outburst of violence in Gaza. In the weeks that have passed, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have launched several airstrikes on the region, resulting in the deaths of over 8,000 people, and they have progressively intensified a significant ground offensive that might last for months, according to officials.