BOP's moment

The Board of Peace took off in Washington with a seed money of $10 billion, as five Muslim nations pledged troops for the International Stabilisation Force. Pakistan, despite being a founding member, has refrained from being part of the disarmament campaign in Gaza as the mandate of the ISF is yet to be decided. This is a smart move on the part of Islamabad as misgivings are in the air concerning a plausible confrontation with the politico-militant Hamas, and its wider implications on regional peace and security.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim state, has sent 8,000 troops, whereas Albania, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Morocco are in with their military gear in the besieged enclave, tasked with securing reconstruction and supporting a post-conflict governance arrangement.

The modus operandi at the launch was one of confusion and uncertainty. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was conspicuous by his absence and was represented by his foreign minister. That was so because the war criminal is shunned by most of the BOP member states, and his diatribe against Palestinians is a spanner in the works. He has gone to the extent of saying that no rescue and rehabilitation campaign will commence in Gaza until Hamas is disarmed. Likewise, he had the audacity to violate the October ceasefire and bomb Gaza once again last week.

Egypt and Qatar, as honest brokers of the deal, have a responsibility to dispense: to ensure that the entire transition is violence-free, and dispossessed Gazans are empowered and rehabilitated. President Trump's obsession with seeing Hamas obliterated and the Jewish state go scot-free for its crimes against humanity warrants some course correction. Rebuilding and disarming Gaza must be a non-partisan effort, and should not come to be seen as a step in disempowering the Palestinians.

The ISF's mandate must ensure that Israel vacates all of the occupied territories in Gaza and the West Bank, and a transitional authority of Palestinians is entrusted with nation-building. Pakistan and other Arab states must watch their steps and ensure that the BOP does not stray from its mandate of brokering peace.