Authorities in the UAE, Egypt, and Morocco are considering joining a US-led initiative for a “peacekeeping force” in Gaza once the genocidal war comes to an end, according to western and Arab officials who spoke with the Financial Times (FT).
“Three Arab states have had initial discussions, including Egypt, the UAE, and Morocco, but they would want the US to recognize a Palestinian state first,” an unnamed western official told the British news outlet.
Another setback the western initiative faces is that the interested Arab parties insist the postwar force “should be US-led.”
“[Washington has] been trying to build some momentum for a stability force, but the American policy is pretty firm that there will be no American troops on the ground, so it’s hard for them to make the argument that others should,” another official briefed on the discussions told FT, stressing that “there could be other ways to get there, and any effort has to be American-led.”
In late March, POLITICO reported that US officials had launched “preliminary conversations” with Arab partners about options for “stabilizing post-war Gaza,” including a proposal for the Pentagon to help fund either a “multinational force or a Palestinian peacekeeping team.”
The report coincided with leaks in Hebrew media that said Tel Aviv had been pushing for the establishment of an “international peacekeeping force to secure the Gaza Strip,” specifically naming the UAE, Egypt, and a “third country” that also normalized ties with Israel.
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