By Andrew MacAskill, Alexander Cornwell and Maayan Lubell
KIRYAT GAT, Israel (Reuters) -In a squat, grey building that normally operates as a cargo hub in an industrial area of southern Israel, U.S. troops have begun the complex task of monitoring Gaza’s fragile ceasefire and planning an international force to stabilise the enclave.
The U.S. military announced this week that about 200 troops with expertise in transport, planning, security and engineering had started monitoring the ceasefire and would organise the flow of aid and security assistance to Gaza.
The Civil-Military Coordination Center operates from a business park opposite wood and steel factories in Kiryat Gat, a city northeast of Gaza. The building also hosts Israeli, British and Canadian military personnel.
INTERNATIONAL FORCE A KEY PART OF CEASEFIRE PLAN
One of its central missions will be the creation of a U.S.-backed international force for the enclave. While the U.S. has ruled out sending its own soldiers into Gaza, it could draw on troops from Egypt, Indonesia and Gulf countries.
The creation of an international force is a key part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war. But there are many obstacles ahead, ranging from whether Arab and other states will be ready to commit troops to Israel’s concerns about the make-up of the force.
“It is going to be indispensable to prevent the conflict continuing,” said Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington. “It is doable, but it is going to be very difficult.”
A major challenge is that Palestinian militant group Hamas has so far not committed to disarming and, since a tentative ceasefire took hold two weeks ago, has embarked on a violent crackdown against groups that have tested its grip on power.
Asked about the presence of an international force, a Hamas spokesperson said it was a “sensitive issue” that would require “thorough discussion” before the group took a position.
The Gaza war was triggered by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that killed around 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 68,000 Palestinians have been killed since in Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to Gaza health officials.
UNCERTAINTY OVER MANDATE UNDERMINES PUSH TO CREATE FORCE
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Kiryat Gat monitoring site on Friday as one of his first stops on a two-day trip to Israel. He said discussions were ongoing about what the rules of engagement would be for the force and whether it would operate under a United Nations mandate.
Officials briefed on the talks said there had been an appeal to countries to join the force, but many were wary of promising support without knowing what the force will look like.
One proposal was for two forces: one securing the border between Israel and Gaza and another operating inside the enclave, according to three diplomats with knowledge of the discussions.
Some European countries want thousands of Palestinian Authority security forces from the Israeli-occupied West Bank that have been trained in Egypt and Jordan to operate inside Gaza, with a smaller number of international troops, they said.
Under this plan, some European police could act as observers inside Gaza, working directly alongside the Palestinian forces, but it was unclear which countries would be involved, the diplomats said.
The U.S. plan was for the international force to move in gradually, starting with the southern Gaza area of Rafah that is under Israeli control, according to two Israeli security sources and an official briefed on the talks.
Two of the officials said the pace of Israeli troops’ withdrawal from areas overseen by the international force was under discussion.
The U.S. and Canadian militaries did not respond to a request for comment. A British government spokesperson said a “small number” of planning officers were at the centre, but declined further comment.
QUESTIONS OVER VIABILITY
H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, was sceptical that enough countries would commit troops to make the force work.
Hellyer said most would be reluctant to commit troops if they were expected to fight Hamas, while Arab countries would be reluctant to take part unless there was a major push to create a Palestinian state.
Unless Hamas agreed to cooperate in disarming, then “no country is going to want to risk their troops getting into a military quagmire”, Hellyer said.
On his visit to Israel this week, U.S. Vice President JD Vance hinted that Gulf countries, Turkey and Indonesia could be involved.
But there are already tensions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated this week his opposition to any role for Turkish forces.
Assaf Orion, a former head of strategy with the Israeli military and a fellow at the at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said if the force was not created, and Hamas refused to disarm, then Israel would likely resume the war.
Israel “is loath to just watch threats emerge and prefers to prevent and preempt them”, he said.
(Additional reporting by Simon Lewis, Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Andrew Mills and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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