ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Countries are still working on a U.N. Security Council mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza and will decide on troop deployments once the structure is defined, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday.
Fidan and ministers from Muslim-majority countries met in Istanbul to discuss the fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, as Hamas and Israel trade accusations of violations.
Some of the countries that met — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Turkey — could contribute to the force designed to monitor the truce.
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The leaders of the seven countries had met in September with US President Donald Trump in New York, shortly before Israel and Hamas agreed to their ceasefire plan. Talks in Istanbul also focused on the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
Fidan told a press conference that there are still problems in the full implementation of the agreement due to regular violations by Israel, adding that Israelis must fulfill their duty to allow in sufficient humanitarian aid.
Israel has said it is committed to Trump’s plan and that the Palestinian militant group Hamas has not fulfilled its agreement to return the remaining hostage bodies.
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A government spokeswoman said Israel was allowing “hundreds of aid trucks to enter Gaza daily (while) Hamas shows its true colors by sabotaging humanitarian aid intended for its own people.”
NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s two-year assault on Gaza, calling it genocide, which Israel denies.
With U.S. urging, Istanbul has emerged as a key player in the ceasefire efforts, helping to broker the agreement and expressing a desire to participate in task forces to monitor its implementation.
Israel, however, expressed its opposition to Turkish involvement.
The truce in Gaza, which left unresolved issues such as the disarmament of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, has been tested by periodic violence since it came into force on October 10.
According to Fidan, Turkey wants the Palestinians to guarantee their own security and manage their own government after the war, but considered that there are other measures that need to be taken first.
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(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara, Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem)
