Top US diplomat Marco Rubio voiced hope Friday of soon putting together an international force to police the ceasefire in Gaza, as Palestinian factions agreed that a committee of technocrats would run the post-war territory.
The secretary of state visited Israel on the heels of Vice President JD Vance as part of an all-out effort by the United States to persuade both Hamas and Israel to respect the truce.
Rubio said it was critical for the deal to create “the conditions for the stabilisation force to come in as soon as it possibly can be put together”.
He expressed optimism for a durable end to the two-year Gaza war as he met Israeli, US and other Western forces monitoring the ceasefire from inside a vast converted warehouse in southern Israel.
The deal, spearheaded by President Donald Trump, calls for an international force to oversee security after Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas, whose unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023 sparked a war that has left Gaza in ruins.
The main Palestinian factions, including Hamas, said Friday they had agreed during a meeting in Cairo that a temporary Palestinian committee of independent technocrats would take over the running of Gaza.
The committee would “manage the affairs of life and basic services in cooperation with Arab brothers and international institutions”, according to a joint statement published on the Hamas website.
The statement also urged a meeting of all forces and factions to “agree on a national strategy and to revitalise the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people”.
Hamas is not part of the PLO, which is dominated by its longtime rival Fatah.
Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, has already made it clear that it does not wish to govern the post-war territory, but it has pushed back against the insistence that it disarm its fighters.
International force
In Gaza on Friday, families were still trying to find their way back to their ruined homes — in many cases only to find they lie in areas controlled by Israeli forces beyond the so-called “Yellow Line”.
“Some young men from our family risked their lives, they went to inspect the destruction in our area, and told us that my house was destroyed,” said 42-year-old Hani Abu Omar, a displaced Palestinian speaking to AFP at a tented encampment in Al-Zawayda.
“All my life I’ve been working, earning, and doing everything I can to build a house.”
Israel’s campaign in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, and left hundreds of thousands homeless and hungry.
Fighting has died down since the October 10 ceasefire, but aid flows are still restricted and Gaza is divided between Hamas territory in the ruined cities and a wide band of land outside the Yellow Line still held by Israel.
The arrival of an international security force may unlock reconstruction funds — US officials vow none will go to Hamas-held areas — but the troop-contributing countries have yet to be confirmed.
Rubio confirmed that Israel would enjoy vetoes on the force’s composition, amid reports Israel has objected to Turkey’s participation.
“There’s a lot of countries that have offered to do it. Obviously as you put together this force, it will have to be people that Israel is comfortable with,” he said.
Turkey, a NATO member and one of the region’s strongest militaries, was the first Muslim-majority country to recognise Israel.
But, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it has welcomed Hamas leaders and been a vociferous critic of Israel, which Erdogan accuses of committing genocide in Gaza, an allegation Israel denies.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority state, has said it is ready to send troops to Gaza.
The United Arab Emirates, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020, has already been involved in ceasefire monitoring.
Rubio said the United States may seek a UN mandate for the force, as some countries need the world body’s imprimatur to deploy troops.
But he again rejected any future role for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which Israel has banned from its territory.
‘Clear guarantees’
Some 200 US soldiers have deployed to the Civil-Military Coordination Centre, where uniformed troops from a dozen countries were seen mingling in the hastily-assembled rented space.
Overhead screens showed the staff’s latest findings, including what it said was a new abundance of fruit, vegetables, cheese and coffee getting into Gaza.
Another projection showed the day’s schedule and ended with words from Trump that read like a motivational saying: “A new and beautiful day is rising. And now, the rebuilding begins.”
The Trump administration has been increasingly firm with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in March brushed aside an earlier ceasefire and ordered a major new offensive.
Netanyahu has sought to downplay any perception of tension with the US, his most crucial military and diplomatic backer.
Israel is still waiting for Hamas to return the remains of 13 of 28 dead hostages it promised to hand over.
Hamas said Friday it had received “clear guarantees” from mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that “the war has effectively ended”.
