US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Friday that Pakistan had offered to send troops for the proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF) to war-torn Gaza.
The ISF is part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for building peace in the conflict-torn region.
Responding to questions about whether Pakistan had formally agreed to participate, Rubio was quoted by news agency ANI as saying, “We are very grateful to Pakistan for their offer to be part, or at least their offer to consider being part.”
“I think we owe them a few more answers before we can ask anybody to make a firm commitment,” Rubio reportedly said Friday.
Marco Rubio exuded confidence that several countries have shown willingness to contribute to stabilization forces for peacemaking efforts.
“But I’m very confident that we have a number of nation states acceptable to all sides of this conflict that are willing to step forward and be part of a stabilization force,” Rubio said, noting that Pakistan was among the countries that expressed interest.
What did Pakistan say?
Pakistan, meanwhile, said it had not yet decided whether to contribute troops to the proposed ISF for Gaza, Pakistani media house Dawn reported.
At a weekly press briefing on Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi said, “As far as Pakistan’s participation in the ISF is concerned, no decision has been taken yet to join the troops,” as quoted by Dawn.
The ISF is one of the central elements of Trump’s 20-point plan that helped facilitate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October.
On November 17, the UN Security Council passed a resolution endorsing the plan and authorizing the creation of the ISF as an interim multinational force to assist with security, demilitarization and reconstruction in Gaza. Russia and China abstained, while Pakistan supported the resolution.
According to Dawn, the State Department’s statement comes amid growing speculation that the Trump administration may be pressuring Pakistan to send troops to the ISF.
International forces in Gaza: Who will disarm Hamas?
Disarming the Palestinian militant group Hamas is among Israel’s top priorities in Gaza.
However, it remains unclear how Hamas will be disarmed, and countries considering troop contributions to the ISF are concerned that Hamas will involve their troops in the fight.
On Friday, Marco Rubio did not specify who would be responsible for disarming Hamas, admitting that troop-contributing countries want to know what the ISF’s specific mandate is and how it will be funded.
Marco Rubio said on Friday that a new governance structure for Gaza — made up of an international council and a group of Palestinian technocrats — would soon be in place.
He said the deployment of foreign troops, such as the US, would follow. hopes to cement a fragile truce in Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave.
