By Hani Al-Masry 

“Disagreements and doubts”.. Will the European Union accept sending peacekeeping forces to the Gaza Strip?

There is talk in Western circles about how to manage the Gaza Strip in the future, assuming that the Israeli occupation will achieve its goal of eliminating the Islamic resistance movement “Hamas.”

The American Al-Monitor website shed light on the European position, noting that there are doubts about Europe’s participation in the so-called “peacekeeping forces” in Gaza.

The website said, “The main goals of the Israeli army in this war are to destroy Hamas and ensure the safe return of the hostages.”

It noted that “if the Israeli army achieves this goal, there will be a need for a plan to govern the Gaza Strip.”

European disputes

Analysts rule out that the European Union will commit to sending peacekeeping forces to Gaza if Israel succeeds in overthrowing the Hamas movement in the territories that have ruled the Strip since 2007.

Al-Monitor said: “Since the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, launched its surprise attack on October 7, 2023 - which killed 1,400 people and took at least 240 hostages - the Israeli army has been bombing the Gaza Strip.”

It added that the army “also began a ground operation in the Strip, to encircle Gaza City, and ordered civilians to evacuate the area and move towards the south.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said, “About 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since the outbreak of the war, most of them women and children, and the number of wounded has exceeded 27,000 Palestinians.”

Multiple condemnations of the Israeli military response were issued by Arab countries, while the European Union and the United States supported Israel's right to defend itself, stressing the need to adhere to international law and reduce civilian deaths to the minimum possible, according to the report.

The British news agency Reuters reported - citing informed sources - that the United States and Israel are exploring options for the future of the Gaza Strip, including establishing a multinational force to maintain security, until a more stable leadership is formed for the Strip.

Complex reality

For his part, analyst at the International Crisis Group, Alessandro Accorsi, said that “the idea of the European Union deploying forces on the ground was raised by EU officials,” but he believes that the proposal “is no longer on the table at the present time.”

“The main discussions are about how to provide humanitarian aid, without calling for a ceasefire,” said Accorsi, a former European Union official.

He pointed out that “the European Council was unable to agree on a unified policy regarding the conflict, whether on a complete immediate ceasefire, or on a short-term humanitarian truce that would allow aid to enter Gaza and the evacuation of civilians.”

He stated that “the disagreement between European countries means that it is unlikely that they will agree to send forces to Gaza.”

According to Accorsi, “There are some member states, such as Austria, who say that their goal in this war is anything that pleases Israel, while other countries doubt that.”

Despite taking this idea into account, Barnes-Dacey “very much doubts that there is sufficient political will and capabilities to achieve this, amid the complex dynamics on the ground in Gaza.”

He pointed out that “there is a strong consensus in Europe that Israel has the right to defend itself, but their opinions differ on the form that the Israeli military response should take.”

While countries such as Germany and Austria strongly supported Israel's right to launch a sustained military attack and rejected calls for a ceasefire, other countries such as Ireland and Spain were more active in pushing for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds, according to Al-Monitor.

Barnes-Dacey concluded by saying: “My feeling is that these differences will become more apparent in the coming days and weeks as the humanitarian crisis worsens, especially if Israel does not do more to lift the siege on Gaza.”