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International Force for Gaza Unlikely as Countries Refuse to Deploy Troops
(Israel Hayom) Ariel Kahana - No nation has expressed readiness to have its forces directly engage Hamas fighters to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2803, approved last week, designed to disarm Hamas. Israel increasingly assesses that the International Stabilization Force for Gaza won't materialize. Azerbaijan - an ally of Israel that considered joining the force - conveyed in recent days that it will not agree to endanger the lives of its soldiers in Gaza. On Thursday, Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Cabinet that President Trump's representatives have agreed that if no alternative actor emerges to eliminate Hamas, and if the organization refuses voluntary disarmament, Israel will assume the mission. The Israel Security Agency told the Cabinet, "Hamas is exploiting the ceasefire to strengthen its power to prepare against us." Prime Minister Netanyahu noted, "Every day the Americans search for who will demilitarize Gaza, they (Hamas) grow stronger. It's clear from all contacts that if there's no external force, we're demilitarizing." According to sources close to the White House, presidential advisor Jared Kushner currently doesn't expect Gaza rehabilitation to begin before the military threat posed by Hamas is removed. The IDF's position is also that reconstruction in Gaza should not be agreed to in any area without demilitarization being carried out.