Turkey plays an important role as the sole guarantor of the Trump 20-point ceasefire agreement. It is likely to be excluded from the proposed 5,000-strong stabilization force reportedly focused on Gaza. This potential exclusion comes against a backdrop of Israeli consternation over the possible presence of Turkish troops. Turkey has indicated its readiness to contribute troops to such a force, but war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah would make this difficult.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently made headlines by calling on the United States to exert more pressure on Israel. He is pressing Israel to live up to its obligations as laid out in the Trump peace plan. Turkey has always been, and still is committed, to stabilize the region. Erdoğan’s call underlines this. This becomes increasingly urgent in the wake of the latest escalation of violence in Gaza and the West Bank.
Turkey has already sent a nine-member team of disaster response specialists to help conduct search and recovery operations in Gaza. The 81-member team from Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) is equipped with life-detection devices and trained search dogs. Right now, they are waiting for entry into Gaza to help begin identifying and recovering both Palestinian and Israeli casualties.
In this, too, Turkey is keen to provide its assistance. Israel is adamantly opposed to any Turkish participation in the stabilization force. The Israeli government’s view of Turkey’s foreign policy agenda as one of close collaboration with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas has made a potential diplomatic thaw increasingly difficult. This impression came to a head with the recent escalation of Israel and Turkey tensions over Syria.
The intention of the stabilisation force is to help protect and coordinate humanitarian aid and a peacekeeping deployment in Gaza, but its establishment has already been mired in obstacles. Nations such as Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates are signing up to the coalition in droves. They would rather have a United Nations Security Council mandate, which the mission would operate under.
Under the original Trump ceasefire plan, it expected 600 aid trucks a day to cross into Gaza. The number of actual deliveries has dropped off a cliff. Since the deal, only an average of 89 trucks are entering per day, just around 14% of what we’d hoped for. This gap leads to questions about humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where families are still living under constant fear and insecurity.
“Families know only fear and uncertainty. The growing annexation of the West Bank continues unabated, in flagrant violation of international law. This must stop. The future of Gaza and the West Bank are one.” – Unrwa
Given Turkey’s capabilities and experience in disaster response, its exclusion from the proposed stabilisation force seems likely. A handful of Turkish advisers could be part of a US-led military coordination cell, working with British, French, Jordanian, and Emirati advisers. Turkey’s deeper engagement is still in danger.
The political landscape surrounding Gaza is complex. Erdoğan’s criticisms of Israel’s actions in both Gaza and the West Bank resonate with other nations advocating for Palestinian rights. As violence soars across the region, those demands for a unified international response only intensify.