On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would determine which foreign forces it would allow as part of a planned international force in Gaza to help secure the ceasefire under Trump’s plan.
“We are in control of our security, and we have also made it clear regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate,” he said speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “a lot of countries” had offered to be part of the force – but added Israel would have to be comfortable with participants.
This appeared to be a reference to Turkey, amid reports Israel had vetoed the country’s involvement.
It remained unclear, however, how such a force could be deployed without an understanding with Hamas.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others as hostages.
At least 68,519 have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.