Foreign troops to disarm Hamas from January under US plans

 The first foreign troops will deploy to Gaza as early as January and may be tasked with forcibly disarming Hamas, according to US-led plans.

American officials have reportedly submitted a draft mandate to the UN Security Council to send in the first wave of an international stabilisation force within two months.

A US official said the troops would be an “enforcement force and not a peacekeeping force”, according to Axios.

If approved, the proposed mandate signals a firm intention by the White House to extinguish Hamas as an effective terror group.

It follows weeks of fears of drift over plans for the future of Gaza since the ceasefire took effect in early October, with concerns growing that Donald Trump, the US president, might have lost interest after declaring peace in the region.

Potential regional contributors such as Jordan have indicated that a stabilisation force should not take part in forcibly disarming Hamas, but rather provide security alongside Palestinian police once the terror group had given up its weapons.

Israel, although publicly supportive of the US plan, is sceptical that Hamas can be disarmed by anything short of renewed military assault by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Although Hamas gave up the 20 living hostages and has returned some of the deceased hostages – in exchange for hundreds of released prisoners and Palestinian bodies – it has never explicitly agreed to the second stage of Mr Trump’s plan, to give up its weapons.

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Analysts fear the group has shown signs of regrouping militarily and entrenching its power over the Gazan population since the partial IDF withdrawal.

Axios reported that the proposed force would involve troops from a number of countries and would be established in consultation with a Gaza “board of peace”.

President Trump has said he will chair the board.

However, its day-to-day leadership is currently the subject of debate – the White House has touted Sir Tony Blair as a leading candidate – as is the composition of the group of technocrats that grapple with Gaza’s post-war recovery.

The draft document calls for the board of peace and stabilisation force to be granted a Security Council mandate until the end of 2027.

The force would “stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups,” the draft states.

It would also secure Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt.

Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Turkey have all shown a willingness to contribute troops, although Israel has ruled out Turkish involvement.

It is thought that no Western troops will deploy in Gaza.

There is significant potential for the ceasefire to crumble before foreign troops set foot in Gaza.

There have already been attacks on Israeli troops to the east of the “yellow” withdrawal line, resulting in the deaths of three IDF soldiers and dozens of Palestinians in Israel’s retaliatory strikes.

Israel also says there are hundreds of Hamas troops currently located east of the yellow line, mainly in tunnels.

They have been warned to withdraw, however Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has ruled out granting them safe passage.

The US has established an international civil-military headquarters in Israel in order to monitor the ceasefire.

A succession of senior administration figures have visited Israel in recent weeks to maintain pressure on Israel not to return to war.