BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Israel will not allow Turkish troops to take part in an international force the United States has proposed to oversee the ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Israel’s top diplomat said Monday.
The 20-point deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month calls for a force to monitor the ceasefire but does not mention which countries would provide troops.
It says the U.S. would “work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force” to deploy in Gaza. The force would train and provide support to “vetted Palestinian police forces” and will “consult with Jordan and Egypt, who have extensive experience in this field.”
READ MORE: Read Trump’s 20-point proposal to end the war in Gaza
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement is still being carried out, and focuses on the release of the remaining dead hostages in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinian bodies held by Israel.
Late Monday, Israel’s military said Hamas has handed over the remains of another hostage to the Red Cross in Gaza.
Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. After the latest body is returned to Israel, another 12 bodies still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over.
Questions about the force
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Countries that are considering taking part in the international force in Gaza also want more clarity on its mandate. Officials from some Arab and Muslim nations have said the focus must be on peacekeeping in Gaza, not acting as an enforcer of peace between Israel and Hamas.
“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 said in an interview with the BBC.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to Hungary, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel opposes the participation of Turkish troops in Gaza because of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s longstanding hostility to Israel. Saar said Israel has communicated its stance to U.S. officials.
“Countries that want or are ready to send armed forces should be at least fair to Israel,” Saar said. He did not elaborate.
U.S. officials have said there would be no American boots on the ground in Gaza. Around 200 U.S. troops are now in Israel working alongside its military and other countries’ delegations at a coordination center, planning Gaza’s stabilization and reconstruction.
During visits to Israel last week, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said multiple countries would be interested in joining the international force for Gaza.
The U.S. was working to secure a U.N. mandate or other international authorization for it, Rubio said.
The ceasefire agreement calls for Israeli troops to gradually withdraw from more areas of Gaza as the international force “establishes control and stability” and as Hamas militants disarm.
Exchange of Gaza hostages and Palestinian bodies in Israel continues
In exchange for the returned dead hostages, Israel has so far handed back to Gaza 195 Palestinian bodies, fewer than half of which have been identified.
On Monday, 41 unidentified bodies were buried in the Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.
Over the weekend, Egypt deployed a team of experts and heavy equipment to help search for the bodies of hostages still in Gaza. That work continued Monday in Khan Younis.
The last 20 living hostages were returned to Israel when the ceasefire began, and in exchange Israel freed roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Most of those freed were seized in Gaza by Israeli troops during the two-year war and have been held without charge. Also among those released were 250 Palestinians sentenced to prison terms, most of them convicted for deadly attacks on Israelis dating back decades, according to Israel’s Justice Ministry.
Turkish interest
At a summit in Egypt two weeks ago, Erdogan was one of four leaders to sign a document outlining Trump’s vision for Gaza and regional peace. The others were Trump, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
Erdogan last week said Turkey was “ready to provide all kinds of support to Gaza.” Officials from Turkey’s Defense Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the country was preparing for whatever role it might be asked to play, whether it’s peacekeeping or humanitarian assistance.
Turkey also has close ties with Hamas. Turkey once had strong diplomatic relations with Israel, though they have been at an all-time low over the war in Gaza, sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Erdogan has criticized Israel, and particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, since the start of the war, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. He has accused Israel of genocide — which Israel strongly denies — and has compared Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Hamas political officials regularly visit Turkey, and Israel previously accused Turkey of allowing Hamas to plan attacks from its territory, which Turkey has denied, as well as carry out recruitment and fundraising. Turkey doesn’t consider Hamas to be a terror organization and frames its relations with the group as part of its broader support for the Palestinians.
“Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us,” Netanyahu said Sunday during a government meeting. “This is, of course, acceptable to the United States as well, as its most senior representatives have expressed in recent days.”
Brito reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.
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