Gaza stabilisation force plans stall as troop pledges fail to materialise

Plans for an International Stabilisation Force for Gaza are in question after promised troop contributions failed to materialise, according to officials and people familiar with the effort. The force was announced at the inaugural meeting of the US Board of Peace in February, but three months later none of the five countries that pledged troops had made any significant contribution. The delay has added to uncertainty around efforts to support the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

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The biggest setback has come from Indonesia, which had offered 8,000 troops and was expected to send about 1,000 in April, followed by the rest in June. That commitment has now been put on indefinite hold. Indonesia's defence minister said last week that the country had not yet received implementation guidelines and suggested Washington's attention had been diverted by wider regional conflict.

The planned force was to be commanded by US Major General Jasper Jeffers, who spoke at the Board of Peace event. Other countries named in the pledge group were Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania. The effort has also been complicated by Hamas refusing to disarm and by continued Israeli strikes on what it says are militant targets, which have often killed civilians.

The stalled deployment matters because the stabilisation force was intended to help underpin a ceasefire arrangement in Gaza and provide a framework for post-conflict security. Without troop contributions, the plan has little practical momentum. The delay also comes as regional governments face political and financial pressure linked to the wider conflict and the strain it has placed on energy prices and domestic economies.

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The broader diplomatic setting has become more difficult since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, an escalation that has made it harder for Arab and Muslim leaders to cooperate openly with Washington and Israel. That has affected the political space for the Board of Peace and the stabilisation force, both of which depend on regional buy-in. In Indonesia, officials and analysts have pointed to public scepticism about the initiative and concern about sending troops to the Middle East while the economy is under pressure.

What remains unclear is whether any of the pledged countries will move ahead with deployments, or whether the force will be delayed further. It is also not clear what implementation guidelines, if any, will be issued next or how the ceasefire framework will be enforced if the plan remains stalled. For now, the effort appears to be waiting on political decisions in several capitals as fighting and diplomatic tensions continue.

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