US military preparations underway near Gaza border for international force deployment: Israeli media

News site says Netanyahu’s govt gave US approval for deployment of about 250 foreign troops inside Palestinian enclave

United States military preparations are underway near the Gaza Strip border ahead of the planned deployment of an international stabilisation force inside the Palestinian enclave, Israeli media reported Monday.

Israeli news site Walla said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had given the US approval for an initial deployment of around 250 foreign troops.

Israel had previously spoken of allowing dozens of foreign military personnel into Gaza without specifying a number. In August, Netanyahu denied having approved the entry of the international force into the enclave.

Countries that have so far expressed willingness to Washington to participate include Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Uganda and Albania, according to Walla.

Kazakhstan has offered medical and logistical assistance, while Kosovo has proposed contributing to security and policing missions, the report said.

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Plans to deploy such a force emerged months ago, but it has yet to enter Gaza amid indications of Israeli obstacles to its deployment.

The proposed force is part of US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which has been under Israeli genocide since October 2023.

“The Israeli military establishment’s concerns stem from the policy the United States may adopt toward Israel and from the speed at which the force could be deployed inside Gaza,” Walla said.

It added that such concerns had grown amid fears that senior US administration officials could adopt a tougher approach toward Israel, particularly following the Republican Party’s performance in the November 3 midterm elections.

The Democratic Party won control of both chambers of Congress from Trump’s Republican Party in the elections.

“It is not inconceivable that the Gaza Division and Southern Command could wake up one day to find an international force larger than the Gaza Division itself,” an unnamed Israeli security official told Walla. “Israel must be prepared for various diplomatic and security scenarios that could have implications on the ground,” the official added, without elaborating.

US preparations

According to Walla, US troops and officers from other countries have recently been seen near the Gaza border, while an Israeli military base in the south has been converted into a secured US facility.

Unnamed Israeli military officials said foreign officers accompanied by US military personnel had been observed around the Gaza border during the past two weeks. “These movements are part of preparations for the entry of a multinational force - the International Stabilisation Force - deep into the Gaza Strip,” the report said.

The US military has also transferred vehicles and military equipment to a designated base within the area of responsibility of the Israeli army’s Southern Brigade of the Gaza Division, near the border, according to Walla.

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The equipment includes trucks, highly mobile armoured personnel carriers, medical evacuation vehicles and armoured vehicles equipped with machine guns, it said.

The site was originally an Israeli military base that was handed over to the US, the report added.

Guard towers, surveillance equipment and lighting systems have been installed around the compound, while its perimeter fence has been reinforced. Armed US soldiers are providing round-the-clock security at the facility, Walla said.

Planned city in Rafah

The outlet also reported that work is advancing on a UAE-backed project to establish a city on part of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Engineering work is underway in preparation for receiving tens of thousands of Palestinians who would undergo strict security screening, including Israeli checks, it said. The international force is expected to secure the city area during the project’s initial phase.

Unnamed security officials said the number of Palestinians screened and permitted to enter the “new city” compound would initially be limited, with the initiative being treated as a pilot project.

There is no timetable for the project, Walla said, amid Israeli government opposition to Gaza’s reconstruction unless Hamas is disarmed and control of the enclave is transferred to a third party.

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More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured in Gaza since October 2023 by Israeli genocide, while around 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Despite a ceasefire that took effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 1,602 Palestinians and injured 5,794 others, most of them women and children.

Israel has also continued to restrict the agreed entry of food, medicines, medical supplies, shelter materials and prefabricated homes into Gaza, where around 2.4 million Palestinians live, including some 2.15 million displaced people, amid severe humanitarian conditions.