Qatar: Gaza stabilization force in the making must be neutral

The proposed stabilization force in Gaza should not serve to protect one party at the expense of another, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulraman Al-Thani said, while also pushing for more aid into Gaza, following a meeting with US officials in Washington.

Al-Thani made the comments in an interview with Al Jazeera after he met with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior US officials on Dec 17 during the seventh Qatar-US Strategic Dialogue, held in the US capital. Qatar has been prominently involved as one of the mediators between Israel and Hamas.

The Qatari prime minister also expressed hope for all parties to move to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement to end the war, as he stressed that delays and ceasefire violations endanger the whole process and put mediators in a "difficult position".

He reiterated that any stabilization force in Gaza must protect the agreement itself and not favor one party over another and said this must be accompanied by the swift formation of a Palestinian civil administration.

Separately, in a phone call with his Slovakian counterpart, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for the full implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted by the council last month, which included the deployment of the International Stabilization Force, Ahram Online reported.

He also said progress on aid and reconstruction would help enable the Palestinian Authority to resume its responsibilities in Gaza within a broader framework aimed at preserving Palestinian territorial unity.

In related news, six countries have reportedly joined the Board of Peace, according to the Times of Israel. The US is telling interlocutors that it has secured commitments from Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany for their leaders join US President Donald Trump on the board that will oversee the postwar management of Gaza, the online newspaper said, citing four officials familiar with the matter.

At a UN Security Council briefing on Dec 16, Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Jennifer Locetta said the US remains focused on keeping Israel secure as well as Gaza and the West Bank stable, but she stopped short of condemning rising Israel settler violence in the West Bank.

Qatar's Al-Thani, meanwhile, called for more unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, in its latest report on Dec 17 said that at least 16 deaths were reported over recent days amid heavy rains and cold weather brought by Storm Byron, with waterlogged buildings collapsing on families sheltering in them and at least three child fatalities reported.

"Whilst the storm is a natural hazard, its consequences are man-made for a population forced to live amid collapsing ruins in makeshift shelters or in flimsy tents," said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini in a post on X.

"Much, much more could be done if aid was allowed to flow in unimpeded," he added.

Arhama Siddiqa, a research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, told China Daily that the remarks by Qatari and Egyptian officials reflect an emerging regional consensus that any stabilization arrangement in Gaza must be impartial, internationally grounded, and inseparable from the unconditional entry of humanitarian aid.

"Their emphasis on a monitoring force tied to a ceasefire, rather than a security framework benefiting one party, highlights Arab concerns that post-war mechanisms not become instruments for managing occupation or insulating Israel from accountability," said Siddiqa.

She said that while preparations for renewed mediator engagements indicate diplomatic movement, reports that Washington has secured commitments from select countries for a proposed Board of Peace risk appearing detached from ground realities if they proceed in parallel to continued military operations in Gaza and rising settler violence in the West Bank.

"These ongoing developments underscore a widening credibility gap between diplomatic initiatives and lived conditions, reinforcing the argument that stabilization without cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians, and respect for Palestinian political agency will remain structurally unsustainable," said Siddiqa.