Israel is excluding Turkey from participating in the international force proposed to oversee the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Monday.
The diplomat cited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan‘s hostility toward Israel as the primary factor for the Jewish state’s decision.
“The reason we oppose their participation in Gaza is simple. Countries that want or are willing to send armed forces should at least act fairly towards Israel,” Sa’ar said in Budapest, Hungary. “They may not have to be supporters, but they certainly should not be hostile. Unfortunately, especially in the last two years, but also before that, Turkey under Erdogan’s leadership has taken a hostile stance towards Israel — not only in public statements but also in diplomatic and economic measures.”
“Therefore, it is unreasonable from our perspective to allow its military forces to enter the Gaza Strip, and we will not agree to that,” he added. “We have also told this to our American friends.”
The postwar Gaza force was proposed by President Donald Trump under the 20-point peace plan. Without specifying which countries may join the International Stabilization Force, the proposal says “Arab and international partners” partnered with the United States will be involved in the process.
“The ISF will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term internal security solution,” the document states.
“The ISF will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza and to facilitate the rapid and secure flow of goods to rebuild and revitalize Gaza.”
Although there are no American troops in Gaza, there are about 200 troops in Israel to assist with Gaza’s stabilization and reconstruction efforts.
During his visit to Israel last week, Vice President JD Vance said multiple countries are interested in joining the security force to disarm Hamas.
“That’s going to take some time, and it’s going to depend a lot on the composition of that force,” he said. “There are certain countries who I expect will be quite good at it. There are other countries that can play a role, but I don’t think they’re going to be quite as useful.”
Some Arab countries, such as Jordan, are wary of what might be expected of their troops.
“What is the mandate of security forces inside of Gaza? And we hope that it is peacekeeping, because if it’s peace enforcing, nobody will want to touch that,” King Abdullah II of Jordan told the BBC.
Vance expressed optimism that the ceasefire, however fragile in its early stages, will hold.
Meanwhile, Turkey has expressed interest in joining the peacekeeping effort. However, Israel takes issue with the country’s ties to Hamas and Erdogan’s criticism of its leaders amid the war.
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“Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday during a Cabinet meeting. “This is, of course, acceptable to the United States as well, as its most senior representatives have expressed in recent days.”
So far, Hamas has refused to disarm. The terrorist group provided a stipulation for handing over its weapons, demanding Israel end its “occupation” of Gaza and other Palestinian territories.