A new draft of a UN Security Council resolution for an international stabilisation force in Gaza is being drawn up by officials in New York, Egypt’s Foreign Minister has said.
“In New York, a new draft is being prepared,” Badr Abdelatty said at a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara on Wednesday. “Certain units will be formed and their mandate needs to be delineated clearly. We need to fine-tune these details to preserve the rights of Palestinian people.”
Along with Qatar and the United States, Turkey and Egypt brokered the October 10 ceasefire in Gaza as well as the hostages-for-prisoners exchange, both part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump's peace plan for the war-devastated enclave.
The second phase stipulates the deployment in Gaza of an international force to maintain security and eventually train Palestinian forces. The force is set to be given its mandate through a vote at the UN Security Council, but fine-tuning details of the resolution that would be acceptable to all parties appears to be a sensitive and complicated issue.
Mr Abdelatty did not specify whether the new draft is a complete departure from a version circulated last week by the US, which would authorise a two-year mandate for a transitional administration in Gaza and an international force to oversee security and demilitarisation.
“It's a delicate process, and obviously this plan needs to be implementable,” Mr Abdelatty said. The force’s mandate should be “crystal clear”, he added.
Israel is opposed to Turkey's participation in the proposed international force. “You'll only be able to see Gaza through binoculars,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote in a social media post addressed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.
Egypt insists that Turkey is included, according to sources with knowledge of deliberations on the Trump plan. Cairo is hoping that Mr Trump, who has praised the leadership of President Erdogan many times, will persuade the Israelis to accept a Turkish contribution to the force.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry official did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Mr Fidan said he had discussed the Gaza ceasefire issues with US officials on a trip to Washington this week.
“We talked about the ceasefire process in Gaza. There are certain impending issues,” Mr Fidan said in Ankara. “We also talked about how we can possibly overcome these problems to render the ceasefire process more resilient.”
Egypt-Turkey ties
Egypt and Turkey have become close partners since ending their decade-long estrangement in 2023. They share intelligence and co-ordinate policies where their interests overlap or indeed clash in the region's hotspots, such as Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Syria. In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Mr Erdogan will visit the country next year, without specifying a date.
Egypt also sees as vital Ankara’s close relations with a powerful faction of the Hamas leadership that has made Turkey its home. The country is where Hamas has most of its investments. “The leaders of the most dominant faction of Hamas now reside in Turkey. That faction places its full trust in the Turkish government,” said a source.
The sources said the rapid development of Egypt-Turkey relations in recent months is partially due to the work of Mr Hakan, the country's former intelligence chief. The Foreign Minister, said the sources, is projecting his power across inter-agency boundaries in Turkey and is tipped to succeed Mr Erdogan.
Egypt is also looking to Turkey for help in its water dispute with Ethiopia, where Ankara enjoys significant leverage. Additionally, it is seeking Ankara's help in Somalia, where Egypt has deployed troops and is participating in a new, Africa Union-based peacekeeping force amid attacks by Islamic militants. Turkey has its largest overseas military training facility in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, where it has provided backing for the country’s army.
The two countries are also looking to boost their economic ties. Egypt is Turkey's largest trade and export partner in Africa, and the two sides are aiming to achieve a trade volume of $15 billion, up from $8.8 billion last year, according to figures provided by a Turkish Foreign Ministry official. Talks on Wednesday in Ankara focused on boosting co-operation in transport, energy and the defence sector, where Turkey is looking for new overseas clients for its growing domestic military manufacturing sector.
