by Khaled Abu Toameh
When Hamas officials such as Abu Marzouk say they will not allow any force to replace the Israeli army, they are actually threatening to carry out terror attacks against members of such a force.
Hamas is not the only terror group that opposes the presence of international forces in the Gaza Strip. On October 8, two other terror groups, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also rejected the idea of any "foreign guardianship" over the Gaza Strip. "We are ready to benefit from Arab and international participation in the fields of reconstruction, recovery and development support," the two groups said in a joint statement with Hamas.
For them, the international community's role in the Gaza Strip should be limited to pouring billions of dollars into reconstruction and development.
When Hamas officials such as Abu Marzouk say they will not allow any force to replace the Israeli army, they are actually threatening to carry out terror attacks against members of such a force.
"Whoever comes to replace Israel will be treated as Israel." — Osama Hamdan, senior Hamas official, arabi21.com, February 15, 2025.
[T]he terror group may accept the presence of troops from some Arab and Islamic countries such as Qatar and Turkey, which are longtime sponsors of the terror group. The presence of such friendly forces will undoubtedly ensure Hamas's continued dominion over the Gaza Strip and allow the terror group to rearm, regroup and rebuild its military capabilities. It is simply unrealistic to expect Qatari or Turkish soldiers to forcibly disarm Hamas.
Notably, the Arab and Muslim ministers did not call on Hamas to cede control of the Gaza Strip or lay down its weapons.
Turkey clearly considers Hamas a legitimate and acceptable actor in any future administration of the Gaza Strip.... This position is shared by Egypt....
It is equally unrealistic, unfortunately, to think that soldiers of any outside force -- especially Arab and Muslim troops -- would risk being shot at by trying to stop any military reconstruction in Gaza by Hamas or other terrorist groups. This bad bet was made unmistakably clear by the presence of UNIFIL in Lebanon, where it took about a minute for the UNIFIL forces to support the terrorists, not confront them.
Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups -- as well as deeply fundamentalist Muslim countries, such as Turkey, Qatar and Egypt -- will simply use any international force as cover to avoid being targeted by Israel and to maintain control of the Gaza Strip.
Is Hamas planning to thwart US efforts to deploy an international force in the Gaza Strip?
On November 4, Musa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, told Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV network that "a military force that could replace the [Israeli] occupation is unacceptable."
Abu Marzouk, based in Qatar, stressed that there is a "Palestinian consensus that the security force in Gaza should be Palestinian, under the leadership of the committee managing the Strip." This option, he said, enjoys Palestinian consensus and reflects the will to manage security independently without external interference.
The Hamas official was commenting on reports that the US has sent several United Nations Security Council members a draft resolution for the establishment of an international force in the Gaza Strip. According to an unnamed US official, the proposed International Security Force (ISF) will be an "enforcement force and not a peacekeeping force."
According to the draft, the ISF would "stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarization and prevention of rebuilding of military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups."
Hamas is not the only terror group that opposes the presence of international forces in the Gaza Strip. On October 8, two other terror groups, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also rejected the idea of any "foreign guardianship" over the Gaza Strip. "We are ready to benefit from Arab and international participation in the fields of reconstruction, recovery and development support," the two groups said in a joint statement with Hamas. The Palestinian terror groups, in short, argue that the governance and security of the Gaza Strip must be a Palestinian matter. For them, the international community's role in the Gaza Strip should be limited to pouring billions of dollars into reconstruction and development.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, triggered by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel's southern communities, the terror group has come out against the idea of involving non-Palestinians in governance and security.
In July 2024, Hamas announced that it rejects any measures that would override the "will of Palestinians regarding the future of the Gaza Strip," and said that the administration of the Strip constitutes a "purely Palestinian affair."
In a statement, Hamas expressed its refusal to accept any plans, projects, proposals, statements, or positions supporting moves for the entry of foreign forces into the Gaza Strip under any name or pretext, adding:
"The Palestinian people will not allow any guardianship or imposition of external solutions or equations that diminish their constants based on their inherent right to achieve their freedom and determine their destiny."
When Hamas officials such as Abu Marzouk say they will not allow any force to replace the Israeli army, they are actually threatening to carry out terror attacks against members of such a force.
Earlier this year, another senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said that his group would treat any force that replaces Israel in the Gaza Strip as an "occupying force," adding: "Whoever comes to replace Israel will be treated as Israel."
The Hamas official is saying that his group will act against any force that seeks to replace Israel, even if that force consists of a Palestinian party other than Hamas.
Hamas is opposed to an international force: the terror group views it as a direct threat to its rule over the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders and officials have repeatedly emphasized that their group has no intention of laying down its weapons and have said they would do so only after the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Despite Hamas's declared opposition to the deployment of an international force in the Gaza Strip, the terror group may accept the presence of troops from some Arab and Islamic countries such as Qatar and Turkey, which are longtime sponsors of the terror group. The presence of such friendly forces will undoubtedly ensure Hamas's continued dominion over the Gaza Strip and allow the terror group to rearm, regroup and rebuild its military capabilities. It is simply unrealistic to expect Qatari or Turkish soldiers to forcibly disarm Hamas.
Recently, foreign ministers of several Arab and Muslim countries who met in Istanbul to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip seemed to support Hamas's position. The ministers stressed that governance of the Gaza Strip must be in the hands of Palestinians alone and rejected any "new guardianship regime" over it.
After the meeting -- which included Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia -- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a press conference:
"Palestinians must govern themselves and guarantee their own security.... Gaza needs to be rebuilt, and its residents must return to their homes. It needs its wounds healed, but... no one wants to see the emergence of a new guardianship regime."
Notably, the Arab and Muslim ministers did not call on Hamas to cede control of the Gaza Strip or lay down its weapons.
Instead, Fidan expressed hope for a "quick internal Palestinian reconciliation" between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas, indicating that this reconciliation would "enhance Palestine's representation within the international community."
Turkey clearly considers Hamas a legitimate and acceptable actor in any future administration of the Gaza Strip. The minister would like to see Hamas patch up its differences with its rivals in the Palestinian Authority and agree on a joint government to manage the affairs of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. This position is shared by Egypt, which recently hosted a meeting of Palestinian factions, including the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, to discuss the formation of a "technocratic committee" to administer the Gaza Strip.
In light of Hamas's opposition and threats, any international force that enters the Gaza Strip will have to act as an anti-terrorism force, not as a peacekeeping or monitoring force. Its No. 1 mission should be to crack down on all terror groups, confiscate their weapons, destroy their military infrastructure, and prevent the smuggling of weapons from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. Members of the proposed force should have a clear and strong mandate to open fire at any terrorist roaming the streets of the Gaza Strip.
It is equally unrealistic, unfortunately, to think that soldiers of any outside force -- especially Arab and Muslim troops -- would risk being shot at by trying to stop any military reconstruction in Gaza by Hamas or other terrorist groups. This bad bet was made unmistakably clear by the presence of UNIFIL in Lebanon, where it took about a minute for the UNIFIL forces to support the terrorists, not confront them.
Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups -- as well as deeply fundamentalist Muslim countries, such as Turkey, Qatar and Egypt -- will simply use any international force as cover to avoid being targeted by Israel and to maintain control of the Gaza Strip.
- Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
Source:https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22036/gaza-peacekeepers-monitors
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