Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel would determine which international forces would be deployed to Gaza under the ceasefire deal.
The Israeli leader made the comments in the context of the growing criticism of the US-Israel relationship and questions within Israel about how much influence and control the US has over future plans for Gaza.
“We control our own security and we have also made clear regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us — that is how we act and will continue to act,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting, according to The Times of Israel.
The Gaza ceasefire proposal released by the White House calls for an “International Stabilization Force” that will take over territory controlled by the Israeli military, but many countries are hesitant to commit troops to join the force, as there are many unanswered questions about what role it will play.
President Trump has claimed that US allies in the region are eager to send troops into Gaza to fight Hamas, but according to The New York Times, the opposite is true, and countries are reluctant to pledge soldiers to the cause due to the potential for clashes with Hamas.
Countries that have been floated as potential members of the force include Egypt, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan. Turkey has also been floated as a possibility, but Netanyahu has strongly rejected the idea of Turkish troops being deployed to Gaza.
In his comments on Sunday, Netanyahu also insisted that Israel was a “sovereign state” and said that the US isn’t telling Israel what to do or vice versa.
“When I was in Washington, [people] said I control the American government, that I dictate its security policy,” he said. “Now they claim the opposite — that the American administration controls me and dictates Israel’s security policy. Neither is true.”
