{"id":77252,"date":"2025-10-15T23:49:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T23:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/77252\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T23:49:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T23:49:06","slug":"inside-trumps-international-stabilization-mission-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/77252\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Trump\u2019s International Stabilization Mission in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump is proposing sending an \u201cinternational stabilization force<\/a>\u201d to help provide security in Gaza as officials work toward an end to the war.<\/p>\n

The exact character and composition of such a force, outlined in the U.S.-led peace process for the Israel-Hamas war, remains unclear<\/a>. President Trump\u2019s 20-point plan stipulates that the international force will comprise Arab and international partners, particularly Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. But exactly who remains to be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plan comes as questions remain over whether both sides will follow through on a proposed hostage and prisoner swap, how Hamas will be disarmed, and who will govern Gaza and ensure regional security \u2014 raising doubts about its ability to deliver lasting stability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hamas was expected to return the remains of all 28 hostages this week, but Israel says only seven have been recovered. The militant group earlier returned the 20 living hostages to Israel in exchange<\/a> for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plan makes no mention of the United Nations in the broader peacekeeping and stabilization mission other than that it will be responsible for the \u201cdistribution and aid in the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are legitimate questions about not having any sort of multilateral, and certainly peacekeeping has traditionally been the ambit of organizations like NATO [The North Atlantic Treaty Organization] and the U.N.,\u201d says Zinaida Miller<\/a>, Northeastern professor of law and international affairs.<\/p>\n

Officials in France and Germany<\/a> have expressed a desire to see the U.N. play a larger role in the establishment of security in Gaza, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul noting over the weekend<\/a> that U.N. involvement is critical in disarming Hamas \u2014 another of the plan\u2019s stipulations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump has consistently expressed skepticism toward Europe and its leaders, criticizing its trade practices, its defense spending and its reliance on the U.S. for security. He has similarly cast doubt on the U.N. as a force for mediating conflicts, preferring his own brand of deal-making.<\/p>\n

The White House plan \u201craises fundamental questions about effectiveness, legitimacy and the role of multilateral institutions such as the U.N. in peacekeeping,\u201d says Fiona Creed<\/a>, associate professor at Northeastern who formerly served as executive director of the United Nations Association of Greater Boston.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Creed, the concern is that Europe \u201chas been excluded from the core political decision-making\u201d in the peace process. She notes that the European Union is the largest provider of financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, averaging about $1.39 billion in support between 2021-2024, data<\/a> shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, the plan calls for a \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d to govern the transition, chaired by Trump. \u201cThere are no EU leaders named in it, and that is telling,\u201d Creed says.<\/p>\n

Hamas abducted 251 hostages<\/a> and killed some 1,200 people during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that precipitated Israel\u2019s broader war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

After the hostage and prisoner swap is complete, the plan calls for swift humanitarian aid, with full aid entering Gaza to restore basic infrastructure and services. Then, the process calls for a \u201ctemporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza,\u201d according to the White House plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, there are no details on the next phase of the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know exactly who is going to be involved, and we don\u2019t know what the rules of engagement are going to be, which is going to be one of the key questions,\u201d Miller says. \u201cIn other words, what job are they doing, and what role do they play in regards to both Israel and Hamas?\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller raises other concerns, including the rules of engagement in the event Hamas refuses to disarm, and the extent to which Israel will relinquish control in areas designated for the stabilization force.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seems unlikely,\u201d he says. \u201cOn both of those fronts, these are open questions \u2014 and the stakes are very high right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump said<\/a> last week that the composition of the stabilization force was \u201cto be determined.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a large group of people determining what it will be and a group of people funding it,\u201d he said. \u201cVery rich countries are going to be funding it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are numerous historical examples of international peacekeeping missions carried out during transitional periods or following post-war stabilization efforts \u2014 each, albeit, with varying levels of success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the Bosnian War in 1995, a U.N.-led \u201cprotection force,\u201d called the United Nations Protection Force<\/a>, helped maintain security during a ceasefire that eventually led to the signing of the Dayton Accords<\/a>, effectively ending the conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Later that decade, another NATO-led peacekeeping effort in Kosovo helped to stabilize the region after the Kosovo War<\/a> \u2014 although tensions between \u200b\u200bethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs persisted.<\/p>\n

Similar peacekeeping efforts with boots on the ground took place in Sierra Leone<\/a>, which included a U.N. Mission at the end of the civil war 1999. In East Timor<\/a> an Australian-led international force took charge in 1999 followed by the United Nations Transitional Administration. And in 1978, the U.N. deployed an interim force in Southern Lebanon<\/a> as part of a decades-long effort to keep peace at the Israeli border.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experts say the real test in Gaza will be how serious both sides are about committing to peace \u2014 and whether they\u2019re willing to face international scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Hossein Dabbagh<\/a>, a philosophy professor on Northeastern\u2019s London campus, says a just peace requires more than the suspension of violence. It means \u201cacknowledging wrongs, mourning losses and restoring the humanity of those dehumanized,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legitimacy of this emerging peace process will depend on whether it shifts the frame from security to justice,\u201d Dabbagh says. \u201cSecurity without justice only postpones the next war. If this process leads to real humanitarian access, to rebuilding Gaza, to international legal scrutiny of war crimes, then it will begin to satisfy jus post bellum.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJus post bellum<\/a>\u201d refers to a set of legal norms that apply during the transition from war to peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Palestinians are to have a state, they must also have the dignity of governing their own security,\u201d Dabbagh says. \u201cThe purpose of international involvement should be to withdraw itself, to create the conditions in which it is no longer needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Successive Israeli governments have opposed efforts on the part of Palestinians to create an independent Palestinian state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tanner Stening is an assistant news editor at Northeastern Global News. Email him at t.stening@northeastern.edu. Follow him on X\/Twitter @tstening90<\/a>.<\/p>\n