Israel's security cabinet has approved the legal framework allowing a multinational International Stabilisation Force (ISF) to enter parts of the Gaza Strip, a significant step in US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan for the Palestinian enclave. The decision, announced on Sunday, comes one day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington, where he is expected to meet Trump on Tuesday.
The ISF will initially comprise around 200 personnel drawn from what Israeli officials describe as "friendly countries such as Uganda and Morocco," and will operate exclusively in areas of Gaza not currently under Israeli military control. Israel's security cabinet has reserved the authority to approve which countries may contribute forces and which contingents may enter the strip. No deployment timeline has been announced. Nickolay Mladenov, the former Bulgarian foreign and defence minister who serves as director-general of the Gaza Board of Peace — the overarching international body established under Trump's plan to oversee Gaza's reconstruction and administration — welcomed the decision, calling it "a critical part of the agreed framework for stabilising Gaza, supporting demilitarisation, and enabling the transition to effective Palestinian transitional administration."
Trump's plan, unveiled after a ceasefire agreement was reached in October, envisions a surge in humanitarian aid, civilian governance by a technocratic body called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), Hamas disarming, and a full Israeli military withdrawal from the territory. Progress has been slow: Hamas has refused to disarm, the NCAG has yet to enter Gaza, and the vast majority of Western countries declined to join the Board of Peace. Israel now controls an estimated 64 to 70 percent of Gaza, with nearly all of the enclave's approximately two million residents confined to a narrow coastal strip, living in makeshift shelters amid dire conditions.
The approval of the ISF comes against a backdrop of continued violence. Palestinian health authorities report that at least 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, with more than 3,800 wounded. Israeli strikes have also killed dozens of Palestinian police officers during the same period — Israel says the officers were members of Hamas's armed wing and posed imminent threats, while Hamas accuses Israel of deliberately targeting law enforcement to deepen instability in the territory, in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
The ISF's deployment, if it proceeds, would mark the first concrete international security presence in Gaza under the US-brokered framework. However, with Hamas undefeated and disarmed, Israeli control over who and what enters the strip firmly in place, and the civilian administration body still outside Gaza, significant obstacles remain before the broader peace plan can move forward. Netanyahu's Washington visit will be closely watched for any signal of momentum — or continued stalemate.