LONDON: Jordan’s King Abdullah II has warned that countries would reject being asked to “enforce” peace in Gaza if deployed under U.S. President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan, saying such a mission would risk entangling states in active conflict rather than stabilizing the region.
In an exclusive interview with BBC Panorama, the monarch said: “What is the mandate of security forces inside of Gaza? And we hope that it is peacekeeping, because if it’s peace-enforcing, nobody will want to touch that.”
“Peacekeeping is that you’re sitting there supporting the local police force, the Palestinians, which Jordan and Egypt are willing to train in large numbers, but that takes time. If we’re running around Gaza on patrol with weapons, that’s not a situation that any country would like to get involved in,” he said.
The king’s comments highlight concerns among the US and other nations about being drawn into continuing conflict between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel.
According to the UN, peace enforcement involves coercive measures, including military force, while peacekeeping operates with the consent of the parties to a conflict and troops only use force in self-defense and in defense of their mandate, reports Anadolu.
Under Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Arab states and international partners are expected to commit stabilization forces to “train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza and will consult with Jordan and Egypt, who have extensive experience in this field.”
Hamas is required to disarm and relinquish political control of the territory. King Abdullah said Jordan would not send forces into Gaza because his country was “too close politically” to the situation.
More than half of Jordan’s population is of Palestinian descent, and over the decades, the country has taken in 2.3 million Palestinian refugees fleeing earlier wars with Israel – the largest number in the region.
Asked if he trusted Hamas to give up any political role in Gaza, he said: “I don’t know them, but those that are working extremely close to them — Qatar and Egypt — feel very, very optimistic that they will abide by that. “If we don’t solve this problem, if we don’t find a future for Israelis and Palestinians and a relationship between the Arab and Muslim world and Israel, we’re doomed.”
The Jordanian monarch has played a humanitarian role during the conflict, helping to deliver aid to Gaza and evacuate sick and wounded children. He has flown over the territory on three missions parachuting aid supplies. “Looking over the back ramp was just shocking,” he said. “The devastation of that part of Gaza was just a shock to me. “I’ve seen it myself, and how we, as the international community, are allowing this to happen is mind-boggling.”
In the same Panorama program, Queen Rania of Jordan – who is of Palestinian descent – criticized the international community for failing to stop the war sooner.
“You know what it’s like to be a parent over the last two years? To watch your children suffering, starving, shaking in terror, and to be powerless to do anything about it, and to know that the whole world is watching and not to do anything about it,” she said. “That nightmare, it’s the nightmare of any parent, but that nightmare has been the daily reality for Palestinians for the last two years.”
