Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have rejected the United States(U.S.) requests to contribute troops to the post-war peacekeeping force in Gaza, an Arab official and another source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.
The troops sent would be seen as “Israel’s shield against the Palestinians,” the Arab official said, explaining the opposition of Amman, Doha and Riyadh to U.S. efforts to secure Gaza after the war.
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, on the other hand, have expressed a willingness to participate in the effort, three officials told The Times of Israel in June.
However, they clarified that Cairo and Abu Dhabi have a number of conditions, including that peacekeepers be part of an initiative leading to an eventual two-state solution, a framework rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The issue of post-war Gaza is one of the key issues on which the U.S., Israel and other Arab states, but also Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, diverge. Benjamin Netanyahu has said on several occasions that he will not allow Gaza to be governed by Hamas, but neither will the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian groups including Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement in July at a meeting in Beijing to form a government of national reconciliation to govern Gaza after the war, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
