Gaza (TDI): Israel has said that Turkish soldiers will not be part of the proposed multinational force expected to assume control of Gaza once Israeli troops withdraw.

“There will be no Turkish boots on the ground,” government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said on Sunday when asked about the matter.

The remarks come amid ongoing discussions over US President Donald Trump’s plan to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force that would gradually take over Gaza’s security from the Israeli military after the two-year conflict. The proposed force has yet to take shape, and several countries insist it should operate under a UN Security Council mandate.

Earlier this month, US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack had suggested at a regional security forum in Manama that Ankara was expected to play a role in the mission. Likewise, US Vice President JD Vance said Washington envisioned a “constructive role” for Turkiye but stressed that Israel would ultimately decide which foreign troops could enter its territory.

Read More: Trump Says Gaza Stabilization Force to Deploy Soon

In a separate development, Israel announced that it had received the remains of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, an officer killed during the 2014 Gaza war. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, identification procedures confirmed that the remains handed over via the Red Cross belonged to Goldin. The handover reportedly took place inside Gaza under the supervision of Israeli military and intelligence officials.

Hamas’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said a day earlier that Goldin’s body had been located in a tunnel in Rafah. Goldin, then 23, was part of a unit assigned to locate and destroy Hamas tunnels when he was ambushed and killed on August 1, 2014, just hours after a humanitarian ceasefire began. His body had remained in Gaza ever since.

Read More: US Seeks UN Approval for Gaza Security Force with 2-Year Mandate

Israeli outlets reported that the recovery was made possible after Israel allowed limited access to Hamas and Red Cross personnel in a controlled area of Rafah to conduct the search.

Another Israeli soldier, Oron Shaul, who died in the same 2014 war, was recovered earlier this year following the October 7, 2023 escalation.