Netanyahu hints at opposition to any Turkish forces in Gaza

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Wednesday at his opposition to any role for Turkish security forces in the Gaza Strip as part of a mission to monitor a U.S.-backed ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Reuters/File)
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  • Responding to a question about the idea of Turkish security forces in Gaza, Netanyahu said: “I have very strong opinions about that. Want to guess what they are?“
  • Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment

JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Wednesday at his opposition to any role for Turkish security forces in the Gaza Strip as part of a mission to monitor a US-backed ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Speaking in Jerusalem alongside visiting US Vice President JD Vance, Netanyahu said they had discussed the “day-after” for Gaza, including who could provide security in the territory shattered by two years of war.
Vance, who said on Tuesday US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan was going better than expected, reiterated his optimism. “I never said it was easy. But what I am is optimistic that the ceasefire is going to hold and that we can actually build a better future in the entire Middle East,” he said.
With a fragile ceasefire in place for 12 days, focus has switched to the second phase of Trump’s Gaza plan.
This requires Hamas to disarm and foresees the establishment of an internationally-supervised Palestinian committee to run Gaza with an international force supporting vetted Palestinian police.

NETANYAHU HAS ‘STRONG OPINIONS’ ON TURKISH ROLE IN GAZA
Responding to a question about the idea of Turkish security forces in Gaza, Netanyahu said: “I have very strong opinions about that. Want to guess what they are?“
Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the Defense Ministry declined to comment on the issue.
Vance said on Tuesday there would be a “constructive role” for Turkiye to play but that Washington wouldn’t force anything on Israel when it came to foreign troops “on their soil.”
Once warm relations between NATO member Turkiye and Israel hit new lows during the Gaza war, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticizing Israel’s attacks on the enclave and elsewhere in the region, and Syria — which borders both states -emerging as an arena of intensifying rivalry.
Turkiye, which helped persuade Hamas to accept Trump’s plan, has said it would take part in the international task force to monitor the ceasefire implementation, and that its armed forces could serve in a military or civilian capacity as needed.
Hamas has resisted pressure to disarm, saying that it is ready to hand its weapons to a future Palestinian state.
Vance said: “We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas, but rebuild Gaza to make life better for the people of Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel.”