By Nailia Bagirova
BAKU (Reuters) -Azerbaijan does not plan to send peacekeepers to Gaza unless there is a complete halt to fighting there between Israel and Hamas, an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry source told Reuters on Friday.
As part of President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, the U.S. has been speaking to Azerbaijan, Indonesia, the UAE, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey about possible contributions from those countries to an International Stabilization Force (ISF) of around 20,000 troops.
“We do not want to put our troops in danger. This can only happen if military action is completely stopped,” the Azerbaijani source said.
The source noted that any such decision would have to be approved by parliament. The head of the parliamentary security committee told Reuters that it had not yet received any draft bill on the matter.
A U.S.-drafted resolution at the United Nations would authorize the ISF to “use all necessary measures” – meaning force, if necessary – to carry out its mandate to stabilize security in Gaza.
Hamas has not said whether it will agree to disarm and demilitarize Gaza, something it has previously rejected.
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova in Baku, writing by Mark Trevelyan, editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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