Israel has declared that it will not permit the participation of Turkish armed forces in a proposed international stabilisation force for Gaza Strip, according to Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. The announcement came on Monday during Saar’s visit to Hungary, where he reiterated that any country contributing troops must be acceptable to Israel and treated with fairness by Jerusalem.
The force in question was spelled out in a cease-fire agreement brokered by the Donald Trump administration earlier this month, which proposes a “temporary International Stabilisation Force” to deploy in Gaza and assist with training vetted Palestinian security forces. Israel has made clear it retains veto power over which nations may join the deployment; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier affirmed that Israel will determine which foreign forces are acceptable.
Saar specifically flagged Turkey’s longstanding critical rhetoric and hostilities towards Israel, pointing out that under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Ankara has taken a confrontational stance, including hosting and giving political space to Hamas officials, which Israel argues undermines trust. He stated, “It is not reasonable for us to let their armed forces enter the Gaza Strip and we will not agree to that and we said it to our American friends.”
The United States, while steering the mission, has reportedly ruled out deploying American ground troops and is instead in discussions with potential contributors such as Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan. With Israel’s clear rejection of Turkish participation, one of the major regional powers is effectively barred from active military involvement in the stabilisation effort.
