The Israeli security cabinet on Sunday voted to approve the limited entry of the International Stabilization Force under the Board of Peace-led plan for Gaza, which would include 200 troops from “friendly countries,” Israeli officials told The Times of Israel.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir voted against the proposal, while Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar voted in favor, an Israeli official said, without elaborating on whether there was any timeline for deploying the fledgling force.

ISF troops would first deploy along the borders of a pilot humanitarian zone in Gaza being planned by the Board of Peace in the area of the flattened city of Rafah.

The cabinet also approved granting the ISF immunity under Israel’s “Immunities of International Organizations Law,” according to a senior Israeli official, who added that the force will operate in “full coordination with the IDF” in areas that are outside of the Israel Defense Forces’ control.

The entry of any ISF personnel will still be subject to the specific approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Sa’ar, the official added, apparently indicating that the decision does not authorize the immediate deployment of the force.

“Israel maintains that the IDF will continue to hold the Yellow Line [to which forces withdrew last October], and there will be no [further] withdrawal whatsoever until Hamas has been completely disarmed and the Gaza Strip has been fully demilitarized,” the official said.

The cabinet also decided that Israel will determine which countries are permitted to contribute personnel to the force, the official continued, saying “only countries with which Israel has a peace agreement, and which are not acting against the State of Israel or its officials in international forums, will be eligible.”

That condition would seem to preclude Indonesia, which has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel, and had initially vowed to contribute some 8,000 troops to the force, though it backed away in recent months due to domestic backlash and doubt regarding the Gaza plan’s progress.

It would also apparently rule out troops from Turkey, which has been among the harshest critics of Israel’s war against Hamas, launched after the October 7, 2023, massacre, and which has hosted Hamas leaders.

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© The Times of Israel