Symbolic imageIsrael approves entry of international stabilisation force into Gaza
Israel's political-security cabinet on Sunday approved the entry of the Board of Peace's International Stabilization Force into parts of Gaza that lie outside Israeli military control. The initial contingent is reported at around 200 personnel from countries such as Morocco and Uganda, with Israel retaining a veto over which states may take part. The decision came a day before Prime Minister Netanyahu's departure for Washington, where he is due to meet President Trump on Tuesday.
What happened
On Sunday, 26 July 2026, Israel's political-security cabinet approved the entry into the Gaza Strip of a multinational force attached to the Board of Peace, the body created under US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan and endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 on 17 November 2025. According to an Israeli official cited by Reuters, the cabinet passed the legal framework enabling the deployment, and the International Stabilization Force (ISF) is to operate only in areas outside Israeli military control and, per the Times of Israel as quoted by Al Jazeera, in full coordination with the Israeli military. Reuters puts the initial size at about 200 personnel from countries including Uganda and Morocco; The National lists Morocco and Indonesia. Each contingent requires separate Israeli approval, and the cabinet reserved for Israel the authority to decide which states may send troops. No timetable for deployment has been given. Israel Hayom, cited by Anadolu, reported the cabinet wording; the public broadcaster KAN said the decision clears the way to set up a force headquarters near Rafah in southern Gaza. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Board of Peace's pilot phase is expected to begin in Rafah and involves temporary structures to house Gaza residents. The force's tasks, under the plan, include securing Gaza's borders, preventing weapons entering the territory and training Palestinian police. Netanyahu travels to Washington on Monday and is expected to meet Trump on Tuesday.
The camps
The Israeli cabinet was not unanimous. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar argued, according to Yedioth Ahronoth cited by Anadolu, that this was "an international plan" and added: "We may not succeed, but we should not be the ones to derail it." National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir voted against, saying "Hamas has not honored its commitment to demilitarize the Gaza Strip and disarm, so neither are we bound by it", and calling instead for measures to "encourage migration". Israel's official position remains that disarmament must precede further steps. Hamas, per the same report, argues that demands for its disarmament while Israel's own first-phase obligations are bypassed contradict Trump's plan; it says it met its first-phase commitments by releasing Israeli captives while Israel continued strikes and restricted humanitarian access. Hamas has so far refused to disarm. Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace envoy, welcomed the approval as "a critical part of the agreed framework for stabilising Gaza, supporting demilitarisation and enabling the transition to effective Palestinian transitional administration" under the NCAG. Al Jazeera reports that Palestinians in Gaza cautiously welcome the decision.
The view from outside
The National in the UAE frames the step as a "flagging" peace plan inching forward, noting that hunger experts said last week the food situation in Gaza remains fragile despite modest improvements, and that attention has shifted to the Iran war. Turkey's Daily Sabah, drawing on Anadolu, foregrounds the cabinet dissent and Hamas's argument that Israel has not met its own obligations. Qatar's Al Jazeera stresses that under the deal Israel decides who and how much aid enters Gaza, and cites the Palestinian Health Ministry as reporting 1,200 Palestinians killed and 3,888 wounded since the ceasefire took effect; it describes Israel's two-year campaign as genocidal, a characterisation Israel rejects. Brazil's Folha de S.Paulo carries the Reuters account and emphasises that the plan is stuck. Germany's Handelsblatt reports the access decision under the heading of the Iran war.
What's new
This is the first concrete legal step toward deploying the stabilisation force since the ceasefire of October 2025. Until now the plan had stalled after its opening phase: Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees were exchanged, but the technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza remains outside the territory, still without Israeli permission to enter. Israel meanwhile has continued to move the "yellow line": Reuters puts current Israeli control at an estimated 64 per cent of Gaza, Al Jazeera at close to 70 per cent, and Israel has said it intends to expand to 70 per cent. Almost all of the roughly two million residents live in a coastal strip under Hamas control, largely in tents or damaged buildings.
What could happen next
If contingents are approved individually and arrive, a headquarters near Rafah and the pilot housing project could become the first area where an outside force operates alongside, rather than under, the Israeli military — and the test of whether Israeli withdrawal follows as the plan foresees. Alternatively, the veto over troop-contributing states and the absence of any deployment date could leave the framework on paper, as has happened with the NCAG, with reconstruction confined to a small Rafah zone. The unresolved sequencing dispute — Israel demanding disarmament first, Hamas demanding Israeli compliance with phase one — may also resurface once the force is on the ground, particularly if it is expected to take on demilitarisation tasks. Netanyahu's meeting with Trump this week is the next point at which the pace may be set.
Israel: Approves the force for areas outside its control while keeping a veto over participating states and insisting Hamas must disarm first.
Palestinian side / Hamas: Says it met its first-phase obligations and that disarmament demands without Israeli compliance contradict the plan; residents in Gaza cautiously welcome the force.
Also involved