Israel to allow international force into Gaza, Israeli official says

July 26 (Reuters) – Israel will allow a multinational security force to enter Gaza as proposed under U.S. President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for the enclave, an Israeli official said on Sunday, a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington.

Netanyahu’s security cabinet on Sunday approved the legal framework that would allow the force’s entry to Gaza, the official said. Netanyahu is scheduled to depart for Washington on Monday and is expected to meet Trump on Tuesday.

The official said that the mission, called the International Stabilization Force, will include 200 members from “friendly countries such as Uganda and Morocco” deploying in areas that are not under Israeli control. Each contingent requires individual Israeli approval to enter Gaza.

It was unclear when the forces would deploy.

Much of Gaza remains in ruins from two years ​of full-scale war triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

After a ceasefire deal was struck in October, Trump set ​out a peace plan for Gaza that provided for a surge in humanitarian aid, civilian administration by Palestinian ⁠technocrats, Hamas laying down its arms and Israeli forces withdrawing.

But the plan has stalled and the group of technocrats — known as the ​National Committee for the Administration of Gaza — has remained outside Gaza.

Israel effectively controls an estimated 64% ​of Gaza while nearly all of its ⁠2 ​million people live on a sliver ​of land on the coast under Hamas control, mainly in makeshift tents or damaged buildings and facing ​dire conditions.

Hamas has so far refused to disarm and Israel has said it will expand its area of control in Gaza to 70% of the enclave, where it has continued almost daily military strikes.

Trump’s plan included a Board of Peace as an overarching international authority responsible for implementing the peace framework. It would oversee the security force, among other functions.

The board is planning a pilot humanitarian zone for Gazans as a way to kickstart ​the U.S. president’s stalled plan, a board official said this month.

Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, welcomed the Israeli decision.

“It is a critical part of the agreed framework for stabilizing Gaza, supporting demilitarization, and enabling the transition to effective Palestinian transitional administration under the @NCAG,” he said on X, referring to the Palestinian civilian administration body.

(Reporting by Emily Rose and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Maayan Lubell and Cynthia Osterman)