Egypt training Palestinian forces to be deployed in Gaza
Egypt is training Palestinian security forces to be deployed in a post-war Gaza as part of a wider plan to eventually recognise a Palestinian state, according to The New Arab plus agencies on September 25th.
This vision for peace seeks to install these security forces as a replacement for Hamas, which has been urged to disarm and relinquish power in Gaza by Egypt and other Arab states, according to CNN on July 30th.
In August, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty revealed that lists had been finalised for Palestinian police personnel to be sent to Egypt and Jordan for training. He noted that Egypt would train roughly 5,000 officers to be deployed into Gaza to maintain stability once Hamas is no longer in power.
In New York on September 23rd, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stated that Hamas could not be disarmed “from a purely security or military perspective, without a political vision.”
The statement was made on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session, during a meeting convened to discuss ways in which the international community can guarantee stability and statehood for Palestinians in Gaza.
Egypt has made it clear that it will only accept Hamas’ disarmament and the deployment of an international force in Gaza if such measures compose part of a political roadmap towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Numerous Western countries, including the United Kingdom, have now officially recognised the State of Palestine, signifying growing international support for the Palestinian cause.
This international backing comes in defiance of Israel’s increasingly unconcealed commitment to obstructing a two-state solution. While moving forward with a West Bank settlement expansion plan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed that “there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us”, according to Al Jazeera on September 11th.
Madbouly asserted that any security arrangements in the Gaza Strip will “not succeed if handled separately from the roots of the conflict”, which refers to the Palestinian fight for self-determination through statehood.
In a statement supposedly referring to Hamas, Madbouly emphasised that “weapons must be exclusive to legitimate Palestinian state institutions, and all armed factions are required to hand over their weapons to the Palestinian Authority.”
He continued in saying that “previous attempts to disarm armed groups have failed when relying solely on military solutions,” and that “the complete destruction of the Gaza Strip and the ongoing Israeli violations over two years have not ended Hamas’s existence or its arsenal.”
The New Arab plus agencies, CNN, Maghrebi.org, Al Jazeera
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly PDF magazine
