Hamas, Palestinian factions reject foreign troop plan for Gaza
Palestinian factions have strongly rejected a proposed UN Security Council plan to deploy stabilization forces in Gaza, urging Algeria, a non-permanent member of the Council, to stand against it.
The draft resolution, scheduled for a vote on Monday, envisions nearly 20,000 foreign troops empowered to use force, control Gaza’s borders, train Palestinian police, and oversee demilitarization.
In a joint statement, the factions condemned the initiative as “a new attempt to impose another form of occupation on our land and people, and to legitimize foreign trusteeship.”
They added: “We direct a sincere and fraternal appeal to the Algerian Republic, government and people, to continue adhering to its principled positions supporting Palestine, and its steadfast rejection of any projects targeting Gaza’s identity and our people’s right to self-determination.”
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem stressed that amendments in the US draft resolution “do not serve stability in Gaza.”
He reiterated that Palestinians demand a Security Council resolution safeguarding their right to self determination and preventing war on the Strip.
Qassem warned Washington is appeasing certain parties with “non binding wording.”
He said the alternative must be a resolution that “strengthens the ceasefire and deploys an international peacekeeping force in Gaza.”
Maher al Taher of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine cautioned that the plan’s danger “lies in turning the Gaza Strip into an area outside Palestinian governance” with a transitional phase that “may last for years, which poses a significant danger and keeps the Gaza Strip under a new occupation.”