Bangladesh Seeks Role in Proposed Gaza Stabilisation Force

Palestinian women walk among piles of rubble and damaged buildings, in Gaza City.

Bangladesh has conveyed to the United States its interest in joining an international stabilisation force proposed for deployment in Gaza.

According to a government statement, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman raised the issue during meetings with US officials Allison Hooker and Paul Kapur in Washington. Rahman expressed Bangladesh’s interest in principle in becoming part of the force, though no details were provided on the scale or nature of any potential contribution.

The proposal follows a United Nations Security Council resolution adopted in mid-November, which authorised the establishment of a temporary International Stabilisation Force in Gaza through a designated peace framework, following a ceasefire that began in October.

However, the ceasefire has stalled at its initial phase, with little progress on subsequent steps. Since it took effect, more than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have reportedly been killed. Nearly all of Gaza’s more than two million residents are living in makeshift shelters or damaged buildings in a narrow area from which Israeli forces have withdrawn, while Hamas has reasserted control.

Israel and Hamas remain deeply divided over the more complex phases of the truce and have accused each other of repeated violations.

Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since late 2023 has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, triggered a severe humanitarian crisis and displaced the entire population of the territory. Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry have described the campaign as amounting to genocide, a claim Israel rejects, saying it acted in self-defence following a Hamas attack in 2023 that killed 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage.