Jordan’s king says international forces in Gaza should ‘keep,’ but not ‘enforce,’ peace

International forces slated to be deployed to Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan will not be willing to actually enforce a peace in the war-torn territory, Jordan’s King Abdullah predicted in an interview with the BBC published Monday.

“What is the mandate of security forces inside of Gaza? And we hope that it is peacekeeping, because if it’s peace-enforcing, nobody will want to touch that,” said Abdullah, on the UK broadcaster’s Panorama program.

The king added that Jordanian forces will not be sent into Gaza because Amman is “too close politically” to the conflict. He said the role of international troops that do serve in Gaza should be to support local Palestinian police trained in Jordan and Egypt.

“Peacekeeping is that you’re sitting there supporting the local police force, the Palestinians, which Jordan and Egypt are willing to train in large numbers, but that takes time,” said the king. “If we’re running around Gaza on patrol with weapons, that’s not a situation that any country would like to get involved in.”

The Trump administration’s 20-point plan to end the war, which Israel has agreed to, demands that Hamas disarm. The terror group has resisted laying down its weapons, and a senior Hamas leader said Sunday that the terror group will disarm only “if the occupation ends.”

In a separate interview published Friday, Jordan Communications Minister Mohammed Momani affirmed that Jordan “will not have any military roles in Gaza and the West Bank,” while reiterating the kingdom’s longstanding support for Palestinian statehood.

Speaking to Jordan TV, Momani said Jordan would continue its humanitarian efforts in the Strip, adding: “Jordan supports all efforts seeking to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people and help them realize their legitimate right of an independent state of their own.”

Jordan has taken part in efforts to deliver aid to Gaza, and Momani has flown on planes that have airdropped supplies into the territory. He said that what he saw on those missions was “just a shock to me.”

He said, “I’ve seen it myself, and how we, as the international community, are allowing this to happen is mind-boggling.”

Abdullah, when asked whether he trusts Hamas to disarm, said, “I don’t know them, but those that are working extremely close to them — Qatar and Egypt — feel very, very optimistic that they will abide by that.”

He added, “If we don’t solve this problem, if we don’t find a future for Israelis and Palestinians and a relationship between the Arab and Muslim world and Israel, we’re doomed.”

In an interview with the same BBC program, Abdullah’s wife, Jordan’s Queen Rania, lauded US President Donald Trump’s efforts to reach the current ceasefire and push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a truce, saying: “Trump was the first president in a long time to actually apply pressure on Israel.”

“Beforehand, when [Israel] crossed lines, the US president would just maybe just say a few words of rebuke or they just get a slap on the wrist. President Trump actually got Netanyahu to actually agree to a ceasefire. And I hope that [Trump] continues to be engaged in this process,” said Rania, who is of Palestinian descent.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.