Turkey is ready to contribute troops to an International Stabilization Force for Gaza if the parties agree, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday after attending US President Donald Trump’s inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington.
Fidan told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency that Turkey was prepared to support Gaza “in every way possible,” including humanitarian aid, reconstruction services and participation in the stabilization force. He said the meeting, attended by representatives from more than 45 countries, produced commitments from states that plan to contribute financially or militarily.
In prepared remarks delivered at the meeting, Fidan said a ceasefire was achieved after two years of suffering in Gaza, crediting Trump’s “personal engagement” and what he called collective efforts, while adding that violations were continuing and the humanitarian situation remained fragile. He said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was committed to Gaza’s “security stabilization and recovery” and said Turkey could help rehabilitate health and education services and train a local police force.
Turkey’s offer came as planners of the proposed force said some countries had already made troop commitments. Army Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the International Stabilization Force commander, said Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania had committed troops, while Egypt and Jordan had pledged to train police.
Board of Peace and Gaza governance plan
Trump launched the Board of Peace as part of a US-backed framework to fund Gaza reconstruction and build interim governance and security structures following the October 2025 ceasefire. At the Washington meeting on Thursday, Trump said countries had pledged about $7 billion for a reconstruction fund.
The Board of Peace includes 27 member countries, with other states and the European Union attending as observers. Israel is among the members.
A centerpiece of the plan is the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a 15-member technocratic body intended to oversee day-to-day administration and public services. The NCAG has started recruiting for a new police force and drew about 2,000 applicants shortly after applications opened, Reuters reported this week.
Fidan said Turkey was coordinating with the NCAG, which he described as being chaired by Palestinian technocrat Ali Shaath, and said Erdoğan recently discussed governance and reconstruction plans with Shaath.
Mexico refuses to join board, cites lack of Palestinian representation
Mexico declined Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace as a full member, saying the format lacked Palestinian representation.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico recognizes Palestine as a state and that it was important that both Israel and Palestine participate. “It isn’t set up that way,” she said. She added that Mexico would send its ambassador to the United Nations as an observer.
The troop offer lands amid Israeli opposition to any future role for Hamas in Gaza governance, a position that remains central to the US-backed stabilization framework.
Since October 2023 UN experts, rights groups and courts have warned that Israel’s siege, bombardment and forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza meet the definition of genocide.
The International Court of Justice has issued three sets of provisional measures ordering Israel to prevent genocide, allow aid and halt operations in Rafah. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch concluded in December 2024 that Israel was committing genocide. Israeli groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel documented systematic attacks on hospitals and the denial of medical aid in 2025, and they also said Israeli authorities are committing genocide in Gaza.
On August 31 the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution saying Israeli actions meet the legal definition of genocide. On September 16 a UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, citing killings, conditions of life calculated to bring destruction and statements by senior Israeli officials.
Gaza remains in crisis after Israel’s military campaign that followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Local health authorities have reported more than 72,000 deaths in Gaza.
A ceasefire that took effect on October 10 has not ended Israel’s deadly strikes in Gaza.
A UN report in October said Turkey was among the countries that enabled Israel’s genocide, citing trade data showing continued oil shipments and trans-shipments from Turkish ports to Israel through intermediaries despite the official trade suspension.
Erdoğan has positioned himself for years as a defender of Palestinians and a critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, but he has faced accusations of hypocrisy from activists who point to continued trade and logistical ties and to Ankara’s willingness to work inside US-designed frameworks that Israel accepts.