Israel calls for multinational peacekeeping force to secure Gaza, help with aid delivery: reports

Israel is calling for an international peacekeeping force to secure Gaza and help deliver humanitarian aid, according to multiple reports.

The multinational military force would be made up of troops from three Arab countries, possibly Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and a third country that signed a peace treaty with Israel, the Times of Israel reported, citing Hebrew media in Israel.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly boasted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had made significant progress on the plan during his trip to Washington this week.

Gallant requested U.S. material and political support for the initiative in meetings with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan – but made no request for American troops on the ground, Axios reported.

The peacekeeping force would ask armed Arab troops to provide security for humanitarian aid convoys to prevent them from being looted by desperate Gazans or supplies falling into the hands of Hamas terrorists.

It would also secure a temporary dock that the United States is preparing to build to receive aid deliveries to Gaza, which the U.N. says is on the brink of famine.

“Such a move will create a governing body in the enclave that is not Hamas and will resolve the growing problem between Israel and the United States over the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” a senior Israeli official said at Axios.

US support for the initiative would reportedly depend on Israel implementing a post-war plan to help Gaza rebuild, such as Gallant’s “Day After” plan outlined there at three months.

Under this proposal, Israel would maintain its military operations in Gaza, but there would be no civilian presence; meanwhile, Palestinians who are not hostile to the Jewish state would govern the territory.

It is unclear whether any Arab countries would actually join the peacekeeping force. They insisted they would not help manage the ravaged territory after the war unless it was part of a plan to establish a future Palestinian state – a move the Netanyahu government has rejected, The Times of Israel reported.

Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, suggested that the peacekeeping efforts are a sign of rapprochement between President Biden and Netanyahu in the middle of the public deterioration of their relations.

“It appears that after a few weeks, the two leaders are putting aside their differences or perhaps letting their cool prevail,” Schanzer told the Post.

“I think the Israeli proposal to create a peacekeeping force… is a nod to the president’s broader vision for regional normalization and integration. »

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas was sparked by the terrorist group’s deadly October 7 attack, which killed 1,200 people in the Jewish state and kidnapped 253 in Gaza. At least 32,700 Gazans have been killed in ongoing Israeli bombardments in the territory, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

In other news:

• Protests broke out across the country on Saturday, with anti-government demonstrators calling for early elections and Netanyahu’s resignation, the Times of Israel reported. Twenty hostage families also lobbied for the Prime Minister’s ouster, failing to secure the release of their loved ones.
• An explosion in southern Lebanon injured three United Nations observers and a translator on patrol in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the organization said. Two security sources told Reuters that Israel was behind the attack outside the border town of Rmeish, although the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the IDF was not responsible.
• Former hostage Hagar Brodutch has shared horrific details of her capture by Hamas with the Daily Mail. The terrorists displayed her with three children and a 3-year-old neighbor as trophies in the street and used an ambulance to transport the hostages to the territory.