Trump’s Board of Peace: Why the Stabilization Force May Be Years Away

The ceasefire agreement calls for an International Stabilization Force — made up of soldiers from Arab and Muslim-majority countries — to provide security in Gaza during the transition period. It is a central element of the peace architecture. It is also, in all practical terms, years away from deployment — if it deploys at all.
The obstacles are multiple and interconnected. Countries contributing forces have insisted the mission be framed as peacekeeping, not combat or disarmament. They will not take part in confronting Hamas. Indonesia — the most concrete contributor, training up to 8,000 soldiers — confirmed its forces would not participate in disarmament. The presence of armed groups allied with Israel in Gaza areas where international forces would operate is another concern that has not been resolved.
Before the force can deploy, Hamas must disarm enough to make the security environment tenable for international peacekeepers. The transitional governing committee must be in place to provide the political framework within which the force operates. The ceasefire must be holding firmly enough that deploying international troops does not mean putting them in harm’s way from the outset.
None of these preconditions currently exist. Hamas has not disarmed. The committee is in Egypt. The ceasefire is fragile. And the detailed mandate for the force — what exactly it can do, under whose command, with what rules of engagement — has not been finalized.
Trump’s Board of Peace provides the political forum in which these questions must be resolved. Thursday’s first meeting was the beginning of that process. But the distance between concept and deployed force is measured in political agreements that have not been reached, security conditions that have not been created, and time that the people of Gaza may not have.