by JNS Staff
The reconstruction of those parts of Gaza that Hamas currently controls is contingent on its disarming, said the U.S. secretary of state.
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| Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deliver joint statements to the press in Jerusalem, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo by Freddie Everett/U.S. State Department. |
The International Stabilization Force slated to provide security in Gaza until a Palestinian organization can step up to govern the Strip would not have to initiate operations against Hamas terrorists because Hamas has agreed to disarm, U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio told reporters on Wednesday night.
The ISF “shouldn’t be a fighting force, because the agreement that was signed and … all parties agreed to calls for the demilitarization of Hamas,” said Rubio, who took questions from reporters after the G7 meeting in Canada’s Niagara region.
The role of the interim force is to provide “just basic everyday security,” he continued.
“If you want to really flood Gaza, particularly in that red area that’s not in Israeli control, if you really want to see a huge uptick, not just in humanitarian assistance, but redevelopment, you’re going to need to have security. And that can’t be Hamas,” he stressed.
“We have a new draft that’s being worked on now. We feel optimistic that it’s going to happen. It needs to be done the right way and obviously there [are] a lot of different countries, you have to balance their interests here and how that’s structured, beyond just the security force. So I think we’re making good progress on the language of the resolution, and hopefully we’ll have action on it very soon. We don’t want to lose momentum on this,” he added.
When asked if the ISF will start operating only after the Israel Defense Forces fully withdraws from the Gaza Strip, Rubio said, “That’s what’s being worked on in the resolution and those are the questions that key partner countries are asking before they participate … Clearly there’ll have to be some delineation of all of that before countries sign in.”
Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas came into effect on Oct. 10, with the terrorist group agreeing to release all remaining hostages, alive and dead, in the first phase, before moving on to the second stage, which requires its disarmament. The truce was mediated by the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey, although other countries have since joined the post-ceasefire deliberations in the effort to uphold the agreement.
“As far as demilitarization is concerned, that’s a commitment Hamas made, that’s a commitment all our partners on this deal made, and we expect those countries, and they are, will, at the appropriate time, including now, bring about pressure on Hamas to live up to that commitment,” said Rubio.
The IDF currently holds about half of Gaza. It is deployed to the east and along a so-called Yellow Line that runs through the north, center and south of the Strip, with Hamas controlling the Strip’s western areas.
“Eventually there won’t be a Yellow Line,” Rubio went on to say.
“Eventually there’ll be Gaza and none of it will be controlled by Hamas. Right now, that Yellow Line is what differentiates between the parts of Gaza under Hamas control and the ones that are not in Hamas control. Eventually, none of it should be under Hamas control. There should be a civilian Palestinian organization that runs Gaza. And that’s the goal, to stand that organization up, give it capacity, allow it to grow in both capability and credibility, and ultimately it will govern Gaza,” he said.
“The Israelis don’t want to govern Gaza, we don’t want to govern Gaza, no country in the Middle East wants to govern Gaza. But it’ll take some time to build up that [Palestinian] capability [to govern Gaza], and in the interim someone has to provide security,” the secretary added.
JNS Staff
Source: https://www.jns.org/intl-gaza-force-wont-raid-houses-for-terrorists-rubio-says/
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