The appeal focused on Armenian grievances against Azerbaijan which of course have nothing to do with Gaza or the Middle East. As a sovereign country, Azerbaijan can buy its military equipment from whichever country it wants – including from Israel. Azerbaijan has never questioned Armenia, for example, buying most of its military equipment from internationally sanctioned and pariah Russia. Additionally, it is unclear why Israel purchasing 40% of its oil from Azerbaijan should have any bearing on Gaza or the Middle East?
The appeal in a one-sided manner condemns Azerbaijan for committing crimes against Armenians in Karabakh and yet neither the UN nor any human rights organisation have published reports or released documentation upholding this. POW’s have been exchanged by both sides. The appeal deliberately ignores Armenian ethnic cleansing and war crimes committed during the First Karabakh War from 1988-1992 and cultural destruction in occupied Azerbaijan from the end of that war until 2020.
Armenia is bitter that Israel continues to refuse to recognise 1915 as a genocide. In addition, Armenian nationalists need to blame somebody for the collapse of Armenian dreams of a Greater Armenia after it was defeated in the Second Karabakh War in 2020 and lost control of Karabakh three years later. A final factor is Armenian enviousness at Azerbaijan’s rising stature and influence in the non-aligned countries and within the Turkic world.
The Middle East has seen many peace plans fail as it is the most difficult region in the world to seek an end to a deeply embedded religious and territorial conflict between Israel and Palestinians. US President Donald Trump to his credit has been possibly successful where previous US presidents have failed. Obviously, Trump’s has not become involved because of a sudden desire to save human lives but to add one more resolved conflict to his list and use this to win the Nobel Peace Prize. US President Barack Obama won the prize in 2009.
A 20-point peace plan for Gaza negotiated by Trump, the presidents son-in-law Jared Kushnir, special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was signed on October 10. Three days later Egypt hosted a Gaza Peace Summit attended by thirty countries who backed the peace plan.
The ISF would be modelled on the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Sinai after the 1979 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Another example would be the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) formed in 2006 to deal with the civil war in Lebanon.
With a UN mandate voted upon by UN Security Council resolution 2803 the ISF could act without being viewed as a UN peacekeeping force and would only deploy after the withdrawal of the Israeli Defence Forces. The ISF would not be issued with heavy weaponry and would be issued with self defence military equipment and armoured personnel carriers.
The ISF would have to ensure security, destroy Hamas tunnels and weapons production facilities and build a new police force. De-militarising the terrorist organisation Hamas might be easier said than done. Trump threatened ‘They will disarm’ and ‘They will disarm or we will disarm them. Got it!’
After Gaza and Hamas have been demilitarized power will move to the Temporary International Transitional Authority, which has been dubbed the ‘Board of Peace’ headed by Trump. Other members of the ‘Board of Peace’ would include 7-10 Palestinian and international technocrats.
US President Trump (pictured) has inserted himself in the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict, which he wrongly claimed to have resolved, after negotiating the Zangezur Corridor and naming it the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). A third example is found in the poorly drafted ‘peace plan’ to end the Russian-Ukrainian war which included as one of its 28 points that it would ‘be monitored and guaranteed by the Peace Council, headed by President Donald J. Trump.’
The training of a new police force will be undertaken by the Civil-Military Coordination Centre based in Israel, north Of Gaza. 200 US military personnel are already in place to assist establishing the Centre. Egypt and Jordan, Israel and Gaza’s neighbours, will play a leadingsta role in the Civil-Military Coordination Centre.
With its influence in the Middle East, its overthrow of the criminal Assad regime in Syria and large army, Türkiye is an important country to be included in the ISF. Trump backs Türkiye’s participation. Israel has protested claiming Türkiye is a backer of Hamas which is untrue; Iran provided financial support, military training and equipment. In return, the US has agreed to sell Türkiye F-35 fighter jets; when US-Turkish relations were poor under Presidents Obama and Joe Biden Turkiye purchased the S-400 Russian air defence.
Azerbaijan has stated its support for joining the ISF after a ceasefire has been implemented where ‘there is a complete end to the fighting’. At the same time Azerbaijan is refusing to participate in an ISF tasked with disarming Hamas. Baku’s stance is not unusual when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, ‘We do not want to put our troops in danger.’ After all, the European ‘Coalition of the Willing’ are only willing to send a Reassurance Force to Ukraine after a ceasefire has been agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
Azerbaijan seeks to coordinate its participation in the ISF with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League. In addition to Türkiye and Azerbaijan, the world’s largest Muslim country Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and possibly Malaysia have agreed to participate in the ISF.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar have declined to become involved but have instead offered financing and training. From the West, Canada and Australia have expressed an interest.
In addition to security, the ISF would have the task of distributing humanitarian aid, retrieving casualties from the Israeli-Hamas war and ensuring reconstruction which will be an enormous task. Two thirds of all residential buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Entire districts have been razed, rendering large parts of Gaza uninhabitable. Approximately 89% of the water and sanitation network is damaged, 66% of the road network has been affected, and nearly all school buildings have sustained some level of damage. Meanwhile, the healthcare system has largely collapsed.
If the Peace Plan is implemented and the ISF is successful in stabilising the security environment and removing Hamas from state structures and the police, there will be an opportunity – for the first time – in achieving a path towards Palestinian statehood. The Palestinians deserve to live in peace at home and with their neighbours in a state they can call their own.
With the military defeat of Iran by Israel and the US and Trump’s personal engagement, there is – potentially – hope for peace in Gaza and an. End to decades of conflict between Israel and Palestinians. Secular Islamic countries such as Egypt, Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Indonesia are key to ensuring the success of the peace process, establishing security and creating a safe environment for Palestinians and secure neighbourhood for Israel and Gaza’s other neighbours.
Taras Kuzio is a professor of political science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy.
