{"id":152656,"date":"2025-11-25T20:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/152656\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T20:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:31:09","slug":"israel-braces-to-disarm-hamas-alone-as-us-backed-stabilization-force-falters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/152656\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel braces to disarm Hamas alone as US-backed stabilization force falters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israeli officials now believe they may be forced to dismantle Hamas on their own, as delays in forming a U.S.-backed international stabilization force have cast doubt on key elements of the Gaza ceasefire plan.<\/p>\n

Despite efforts by Egypt, Turkey and Qatar to push forward the next stage of the ceasefire during a meeting Tuesday in Cairo \u2014 held with coordination from the United States \u2014 Israeli and regional officials say the absence of a functioning international force is threatening to derail the entire process. The envisioned force, known as the International Stabilization Force (ISF), was meant to enter Gaza after the fighting ends to help disarm Hamas and stabilize the territory.<\/p>\n

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(Photo: AP Photo\/Alex Brandon, REUTERS\/Amir Cohen, AP Photo\/Khalil Hamra, REUTERS\/Nathan Howard)<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the force, disarming Hamas will be delayed \u2014 and in the end, Israel may have no choice but to do it alone,\u201d one official said. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely complex, and Hamas is showing no signs of voluntarily laying down its arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Turkish intelligence head Ibrahim Kalin and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani reportedly discussed strengthening joint efforts in cooperation with the United States. According to Arab media and Reuters, the three parties agreed to \u201ccontinue strengthening coordination and cooperation with the Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC)\u201d and reviewed alleged \u201cIsraeli violations\u201d of the truce terms.<\/p>\n

The officials said efforts to build the force are stalled, despite expectations that a UN Security Council resolution<\/a> would move the process forward. Not only have a few countries expressed willingness to contribute troops, but some that initially agreed \u2014 including Azerbaijan<\/a> \u2014 have since withdrawn, reportedly under Turkish pressure. \u201cThere\u2019s a real sense that the force just isn\u2019t coming together,\u201d said one source.<\/p>\n

Turkey and Qatar are now seeking to fill the current vacuum in Gaza, coordinating closely with Washington. \u201cIsrael is uncomfortable with this, but the fear is that without an alternative, Turkish and Qatari involvement could be imposed on it,\u201d one official said.<\/p>\n

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\"\u05e8\u05d2'\u05e4<\/a>\"\u05e8\u05d2'\u05e4<\/p>\n

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan <\/p>\n

(Photo: Adem ALTAN \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

As talks intensify over the return of hostages\u2019 remains, tensions are reportedly rising between Israel and the U.S. regarding the second phase of the plan. Israeli officials say Hamas is violating its commitments under the Trump-mediated agreement, but the terrorist group \u2014 backed by Turkey and Qatar \u2014 accuses Israel of breaching the terms. <\/p>\n

American officials, according to sources, have been blocking Israel from imposing new sanctions on Hamas at this stage, which Israeli officials say is allowing the group to stall. \u201cThe U.S. is losing patience,\u201d one official said, \u201cand we may soon see American pressure on Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Reuters, the Cairo summit’s focus was to \u201celiminate all obstacles to ensure the continuity of the ceasefire,\u201d with particular emphasis on responding to Israeli actions.<\/p>\n

Diplomatic sources said the fate of the ISF remains uncertain. While the U.S. insists it is committed to the plan and continues to seek contributors, few countries are stepping forward. Officials say Washington has told allies they can still assist behind the scenes \u2014 by contributing logistics, funding or support at the ISF command center in southern Israel \u2014 even if they do not send troops.<\/p>\n

Still, the absence of an operational force has reinforced the Israeli realization that it may need to dismantle Hamas militarily on its own \u2014 a scenario Jerusalem had hoped to avoid.<\/p>\n

Tensions with Hezbollah<\/p>\n

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former national security adviser under President Donald Trump, is set to visit Israel early next month. Waltz, considered one of Israel\u2019s staunchest supporters in the current administration, will be making his first trip to the country in his current role. Israeli officials are attaching significant importance to the visit, viewing it as an opportunity to brief Waltz on the northern front and introduce him to various senior figures.<\/p>\n

Waltz will be accompanied by Israel\u2019s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, and is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar.<\/p>\n

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\"\u05d4\u05dc\u05d5\u05d9\u05d9\u05ea\u05d5<\/a>\"\u05d4\u05dc\u05d5\u05d9\u05d9\u05ea\u05d5<\/p>\n

Funeral of Hezbollah\u2019s second-in-command and de facto military chief, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, in Beirut <\/p>\n

(Photo: REUTERS\/Mohamed Azakir)<\/p>\n

According to a report Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal, Tabatabai played a key role in Hezbollah\u2019s efforts to avoid disarmament<\/a>, which the group claims is necessary to \u201cdefend Lebanon\u2019s sovereignty.\u201d The report noted that Tabatabai was involved in recruiting fighters to replenish the Radwan Force after Israeli strikes and in adapting guerrilla tactics to enhance survivability in future clashes with the IDF. Among other measures, he instructed fighters to operate in small cells and trained commanders to prepare successors in case they were eliminated.<\/p>\n

Following the assassination, Hezbollah is still debating its next move. A source close to the organization told AFP that \u201cthere are two opposing views within the group \u2014 some want to retaliate, others prefer restraint. For now, the leadership is opting for diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the IDF is preparing for potential operations in Lebanon, if needed, to deter Hezbollah and degrade its capabilities. One year has passed since the northern ceasefire agreement was signed, which included provisions for Hezbollah\u2019s disarmament by the Lebanese army, yet that has yet to be implemented. The IDF now believes Israel is approaching a major test of the \u201czero-tolerance\u201d policy it adopted following the October 7 massacre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israeli officials now believe they may be forced to dismantle Hamas on their own, as delays in forming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-152656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}