Shortly after the UN Security Council approved a resolution establishing the multinational force (ISF) to be deployed to the Gaza Strip, the US administration began accelerating its formation.
“The first ISF soldiers are expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip in early 2026,” a US official told The Jerusalem Post.
The official added that, at this stage, a handful of countries have expressed interest in contributing troops to the force.
He did not specify which countries these were, but another official who spoke with the Post said that Azerbaijan and Indonesia are currently the two most likely to send soldiers.
For now, training for the force’s deployment to Gaza has not yet begun, and efforts are still underway to secure the extensive funding required for ISF operations in the Strip.
A diplomatic source told the Post that in addition to Arab states, European countries have also been approached for assistance on the matter.
Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that he views the force not as a UN force, and not as a shift in Isreal's security doctrine, but as an opportunity to advance the long-term objective of demilitarizing Gaza and dismantling Hamas’s military capacity.
Danon spoke to the Post just hours after Monday evening’s UN Security Council meeting, where the US-led resolution to deploy the ISF to Gaza was approved, with 13 votes in favor and abstentions from China and Russia.
The five permanent members of the UNSC are the US, UK, Russia, China, and France. Ten other countries hold temporary membership. Currently, those positions are held by Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia.
Danon spoke at the UNSC debate and emphasized that any plan for the future of the Gaza Strip requires “complete disarmament and the prevention of Hamas rearming,” his office stated.
Hamas rejected the UNSC’s passing of the resolution, saying it fails to meet Palestinians’ rights and demands and seeks to impose an international trusteeship on the Gaza Strip that Palestinians and “resistance factions” oppose.
The Palestinian Authority, however, issued a statement welcoming the resolution and said it is ready to take part in its implementation.
James Genn and Reuters contributed to this report.