Five countries have contributed their military contingents to the international stabilisation force in the Gaza Strip, Major General Jasper Jeffers, commander of the force, announced at the first meeting of the Peace Council in Washington on 19 February.
“I am incredibly pleased to announce today that the first five countries have sent their troops to serve in the International Stabilisation Force-Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania. Two countries have committed to train police-Egypt and Jordan,” Jeffers said (quoted by Reuters).
He added that the international force will deploy to Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where it will train police and “expand sector by sector.”
Jeffers did not specify how many military personnel each country would contribute. He said there would be a total of 20,000 military personnel in Gaza, and 12,000 police officers would participate in the exercise.
The first meeting of the Peace Council, created at the initiative of US President Donald Trump, was held in Washington on 19 February. It was attended by delegations from more than 20 countries. Trump said that the participating countries have allocated $7 billion for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and the US will donate $10 billion for Peace Council projects.
The Peace Council was originally conceived precisely as a body to govern the Gaza Strip after the war under Trump’s peace plan, but it has since become clear that the US president sees it as a new international body with much broader powers.