First 5 Nations Have Pledged Troops to Gaza Peacekeeping Force

WASHINGTON—Five countries have pledged to commit their troops to the International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza, the U.S. commander of the force announced on Feb. 19.

Speaking at the first Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on Thursday, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers said Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Albania have all pledged troops for the ISF.

He said Egypt and Jordan have also committed personnel to help train a police force for the war-torn Gaza Strip.

The ISF is a multinational peacekeeping force established under the Gaza cease-fire agreement President Donald Trump brokered in October.

Jeffers is the commander for the peacekeeping force and is managing those duties concurrently with his role as the leader of the Middle East component of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

“The last few months, we’ve had a team on the ground of U.S. military experts preparing the infrastructure for the ISF,” Jeffers said on Thursday.

Jeffers said he plans to divide the Gaza Strip into five different sectors, each of which will be managed by its own ISF brigade.

ISF troops will initially deploy to Rafah, which is located at the southern end of the Gaza Strip. Jeffers said those international troops will manage that section of the strip while the local police forces train up.

“The mid-term objective is to continue to expand sector by sector, all moving to our long-term: 12,000 police and 20,000 ISF soldiers,” Jeffers continued.

During the Board of Peace meeting, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said his country could contribute at least 8,000 troops to the international peacekeeping force.

Jeffers said Indonesia has accepted his invitation to send one of its officers to serve as the deputy commander for the ISF.

Following Jeffers comments on the plans for the ISF, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced his country is also prepared to provide troops for the peacekeeping force, in addition to training local police forces and delivering humanitarian assistance.

The Board of Peace and the ISF are in place to help manage the U.S.-backed plan to resolve the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.

The peace plan entails the disarmament of Hamas, reconstruction of war-torn Gaza, and the formation of an interim governance model to manage the territory through the reconstruction.

During the first meeting of the Board of Peace, Trump announced the United States would commit $10 billion to the organization.

He said the leaders of other participating Board of Peace nations had collectively agreed to contribute about $7 billion more to the effort.