Rubio says international security force in Gaza will be made up of countries acceptable to Israel

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the “international stabilization force” set to oversee Gaza under President Trump’s ceasefire agreement will be led by countries that Israel is “comfortable with.”

Mr. Rubio traveled to Israel this week for meetings with top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he met on Friday. 

“We’re making good progress. It’s amazing that in just seven or eight days, the kinds of things and systems that have been set up,” Mr. Rubio said following his meeting with Mr. Netanyahu. “No one is under any illusions — we’ve already done the impossible once, and we intend to keep doing that if we can. We have good partners that we’re working on – we feel confident and positive about the progress that’s being made. We’re clear-eyed about the challenges, too.”

Mr. Rubio said the details of the stabilization force were still being worked out, but confirmed that Hamas would no longer be in a governing position. 

Under the plan, an international stabilization force will be established in the second phase of the peace agreement, following Hamas’s total disarmament. The force is intended to be composed of Arab, European and U.S. personnel, though it’s unclear what the balance will look like. 

Mr. Rubio’s comments come as the U.S.-backed peace plan continues to face major challenges in Gaza. Since the agreement went into effect in early October, both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire. 

Israel has said Hamas’ failure to quickly return the bodies of hostages, and its crackdown on civilians in Gaza, constitute major violations of the agreement. 

Several deaths in Gaza have also strained the ceasefire, with Hamas insisting that Israel’s military actions have already violated the ceasefire many times.

Over the weekend, Israel launched a series of airstrikes in Rafah and Abasan al-Kabira intended to protect an armed anti-Hamas group in Gaza. Hamas has accused Israel of supporting armed militia groups in Gaza, hurting the chances of a successful ceasefire.