Rubio: New bodies for Gaza governance to be established soon, followed by international forces

(Patria) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Friday that a new governance structure for Gaza will soon be established - composed of an international committee and a group of Palestinian technocrats, followed by the deployment of foreign troops, as the US seeks to consolidate the fragile ceasefire in the Israeli war in the Palestinian enclave, Reuters reported.

Rubio, speaking at a press conference, said the status quo is unsustainable in Gaza, where Israel continues to attack Hamas targets while the group re-establishes control since the October peace agreement brokered by President Donald Trump's administration.

"That is why we have a sense of urgency to bring the first phase to its full completion, which is the establishment of the Peace Committee and the establishment of a Palestinian technocratic government or organization that will be on the ground, and then stabilization forces," Rubio said.

Rubio said that progress has recently been made in identifying Palestinians who will join the technocratic group and said that Washington aims for the governing bodies to be established "very soon," without specifying a concrete timeframe.

Rubio spoke after the US Central Command held a conference in Doha this week with partner countries on planning International Stabilization Forces (ISF) for Gaza. Two US officials told Reuters last week that international troops could be deployed to the Strip as early as next month, after the United Nations Security Council voted in November to approve these forces.

It remains unclear how the Palestinian militant group Hamas will be disarmed, and countries considering sending troops to the ISF are wary that Hamas will engage its soldiers in combat.
Rubio did not specify who would be responsible for disarming Hamas and acknowledged that countries providing troops want to know the specific mandate of the ISF and how it will be financed.

"I think we owe them a few more answers before we can ask anyone to make a firm commitment, but I am very confident that we have a number of nation-states acceptable to all parties in this that are ready to step up and be part of these stabilization forces," Rubio said, noting that Pakistan was among the countries that expressed interest.

Establishing security and governance was key to attracting donors to pay for reconstruction in Gaza, Rubio added.

"Who will pledge billions of dollars to build things that will be blown up again if war breaks out?" Rubio said, discussing the possibility of a donor conference to raise funds for reconstruction.

"They want to know who is in charge, and they want to know that there is security and that there will be long-term stability," he concluded.