Jordan and Germany confirmed on Saturday that the international force proposed to be deployed in the Gaza Strip under U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan must first obtain a mandate from the United Nations Security Council — amid reports that the force will consist solely of Muslim soldiers.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stated,
“We all agree that for the stability force to be effective in carrying out its mission, it must have the authorisation of the UN Security Council.”
Safadi stressed that Jordan will not send its troops to participate in this force.
His remarks came during the Manama Dialogue Forum held in Bahrain’s capital, alongside his German counterpart Johann Vadivol, who also expressed Berlin’s support for granting the Gaza force an international mandate.
Vadivol noted that the proposed deployment would “require a clear foundation in international law,” emphasising that this point is critical for both the countries willing to contribute troops and the Palestinian side.
Muslim Soldiers from the Region
In a related development, The Telegraph reported on Friday — citing unnamed diplomatic sources — that only Muslim soldiers would be deployed to patrol the Gaza Strip as part of this peacekeeping mission.
According to the report, the troops would come primarily from regional states in an effort to ease tensions and increase the force’s acceptability among Palestinians.
However, the newspaper added that disputes persist not only over the composition of the force but also over its precise mission — whether it would seek to disarm the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) or merely maintain security in Gaza after Hamas, as well as over its official legal framework.
Jordan Rejects Disarming Hamas
Jordan had earlier made clear that any peacekeeping force in Gaza would not forcibly disarm Hamas, underscoring that this issue is politically and nationally sensitive for Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israel reportedly rejected the participation of Qatar or Turkey in such a mission, while Indonesia, Egypt, and the UAE are being discussed as possible contributors.
More than three weeks after the ceasefire came into effect in Gaza, the promised international stabilisation force — a key component of Trump’s proposed plan — has yet to materialise.
Palestinian Factions Call for UN Oversight
In October, Palestinian factions — led by Fatah and Hamas — met in Cairo and reaffirmed the importance of a UN Security Council resolution to formally establish the temporary international force intended to monitor and preserve the ceasefire in Gaza.
The Palestinian movements insist that any deployment must serve Palestinian sovereignty, not foreign agendas, and must not be exploited to weaken the Palestinian resistance or legitimise the Israeli occupation under a new guise of “peacekeeping.”
Editorial Context
While Washington’s plan portrays this as a “stability initiative,” many analysts in the region view it as part of a broader strategy to reshape Gaza’s post-war landscape under foreign — yet Western-controlled — influence.
The idea of limiting the force to Muslim-majority nations is seen as an attempt to add symbolic legitimacy to a project that, in essence, preserves Israeli security interests and restrains Palestinian self-determination.
For Palestinians and much of the Muslim world, any genuine peace effort must prioritise ending the occupation, lifting the blockade, and upholding the right of resistance, not replacing occupation forces with new uniforms.
