Arab positions vary on the idea of establishing a multinational peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, amid discussions taking place regarding developing a viable plan in the region after the end of the war.

The Financial Times newspaper revealed that Arab officials expressed their lack of support for the idea of an international or regional force entering Gaza, stressing that it must be under Palestinian administration.

The newspaper quoted an Arab diplomat as saying that reservations in some capitals had declined in recent weeks and raised the possibility of Arab participation in those forces as countries sought to show their “commitment to the peace process.”

The diplomat said: “We know that Israel has security concerns about the Palestinian state, and that means we are ready to help.”

Another Arab diplomat told the newspaper that any force must be approved by the United Nations Security Council and be deployed for a temporary period of time to give the Palestinian authorities time to develop their security forces.

Despite increasing openness to such a deployment, it remains unclear which countries would be willing to participate.

A third Arab official also revealed that the presence of a force in the Gaza Strip is an initiative supported by Egypt and that other regional powers, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar, oppose the deployment of Arab peacekeeping forces.

What is the nature of the peacekeeping force?

While another official said that there was agreement on the need to provide an alternative to the remaining Israeli forces in the Strip, but they added that the main question is: “What is the force?”

The idea was raised with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken when he met with his Arab counterparts in Cairo in March.

The newspaper reports that Arab countries have been trying for months to formulate a broad vision to address the crisis sparked by the attack launched by Hamas on October 7 and the Israeli retaliatory attack on Gaza.

Their primary demand will be for the West and Israel to take irreversible steps toward a two-state solution to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and they want the United States and other Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state and support its full membership in the United Nations, arguing that this should be part of the process, not a result.

But post-war planning in Gaza is being undermined by uncertainty about Israel's intentions, including how long it will keep its forces in the torn strip; Who will you accept as responsible? How long will her attack continue?

Netanyahu's government rejects the international presence in the West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ruled out that the Western- and Arab-backed Palestinian Authority, which Hamas expelled from Gaza in 2007, would play any role or make any moves toward establishing a Palestinian state.

Some Israeli officials, such as Defense Minister Yoav Galant, have expressed support for the idea of an international presence in Gaza after the war, but Netanyahu's far-right government is likely to reject any such move in the West Bank, where thousands of Jewish settlers live.

At a conference in Riyadh this week, Arab foreign ministers gave largely vague answers to questions about the peacekeeping mission.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the top Saudi diplomat, said that it is difficult to deal with this issue without clarity on the other elements, and his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Al-Safadi, warned that any peacekeeping force might “be seen as working to entrench the misery that this war has created.” .

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that Cairo is ready to play its role fully, taking into account risk and reward and a comprehensive assessment of the final result.

The primary focus of the Biden administration has been to push for an agreement that would lead to Saudi Arabia normalizing its relations with Israel in the hope that it would persuade Tel Aviv to make concessions toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The administration was also moving toward reaching an agreement before the October 7 Hamas attack, which would have included the United States agreeing to a defense pact with the kingdom and supporting its nuclear ambitions.

Washington and Riyadh continued to discuss the agreement, and Prince Faisal said this week that they were “very close” to reaching an agreement with the American side, but he reiterated the need for a “path that leads to a credible and irreversible Palestinian state.”

Source: Sky News Arabia