International force to be allowed into Gaza, Israeli official says

What the report says

The Irish Times, citing Reuters, reported that Israel is set to permit a multinational security mission to enter Gaza under US president Donald Trump’s ceasefire framework. An Israeli official said on Sunday that prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet had approved the legal basis for the mission ahead of Netanyahu’s planned trip to Washington on Monday and expected meeting with Trump on Tuesday.

The official said the International Stabilisation Force would initially comprise 200 personnel from countries described as friendly to Israel, including Uganda and Morocco. The mission would operate in parts of Gaza outside Israeli control, but each national contingent would still need separate Israeli approval before entering. The timing of any deployment was not clear.

The reported decision comes amid stalled efforts to implement Trump’s Gaza plan, which followed an October ceasefire deal. The framework envisaged increased humanitarian aid, a Palestinian technocratic civilian administration, Hamas disarmament and an Israeli military withdrawal. According to the report, the proposed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza remains outside the enclave, while Israel controls about 64 per cent of Gaza and has said it may expand that area to 70 per cent.

The wider context remains severe: much of Gaza has been devastated by the war that followed the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7th, 2023, and most of the enclave’s roughly two million people are living in difficult conditions in a small coastal area. Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, welcomed the Israeli decision on X, calling it part of the agreed stabilisation and transitional administration framework.