US to have ‘very vague peacekeeping force’ in Israel
The US plan to deploy 200 troops to Israel will be for a “purely oversight” role, says Rob Geist Pinfold, a professor at King’s College London.
“They will not have a combat role. They will not have a peacekeeping or a police role,” Pinfold told Al Jazeera, speaking from London, UK.
The details are still very sparse on “this very, very vague peacekeeping force”, said Pinfold.
“We don’t know how many troops will be on the ground, US or regional or not, we don’t know when they will go in, and we don’t know what role they will perform. And the key aspect here is that we still don’t know when [or] if Hamas will disarm its fighters,” the professor said.
Pinfold added: “This whole plan is a typical Trump plan. It’s more ambitious than the previous ceasefires … But there’s still so many unknowns.”
Gaza authorities demand immediate war crimes probe, lifting of siege
Gaza’s Government Media Office has released a list of steps that must follow the ceasefire:
- An immediate and comprehensive end to genocide in all its forms, including killing, bombing, starvation, siege, and forced displacement.
- A complete lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip and the immediate opening of all crossings to allow the entry of aid without restrictions.
- The demand for the international community, the United Nations, all international and legal organisations, and the International Criminal Court to hold the leaders of Israel accountable and to not grant them any political or legal immunity.
- The formation of an independent international committee to investigate war crimes and genocide and ensure the return and compensation of all displaced people.
- An urgent plan for the comprehensive reconstruction of the Gaza Strip with Arab and international funding, according to a transparent mechanism that guarantees the delivery of resources to civilians.
- The protection of medical, media, and humanitarian personnel in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, and the return of the bodies stolen by Israel.
- The immediate release of all Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons.
- The urgent evacuation of sick and wounded people, especially children and cancer patients, to receive treatment abroad.
Hamas has 72 hours to release Israeli captives
The countdown has started. In these 72 hours, Hamas will have to gather the Israeli captives – the living ones – and to collect the bodies of Israeli captives who have been killed during these past two years of war, and then deliver them to Israel.
There is a caveat … [that] being able to retrieve all the bodies might not be possible. And that is something that the American mediators, the other mediators, are aware of. There was even talk of lending technical assistance.
Let’s remember: Israel has obliterated 92 percent of homes in Gaza. Entire communities have been wiped out.
So even if Hamas or other groups knew the geographical location of where one of the bodies was at one point … it would be very difficult without proper technical assistance to actually know where they are.
