Türkiye to Convene Arab, Muslim FMs on Gaza Peace Plan amid Fragile Ceasefire

Türkiye is set to host a meeting on Monday to discuss the US peace plan for Gaza, including the ceasefire and the next steps, amid concerns over the fragile ceasefire.

The meeting will likely convene the foreign ministers of the Arab and Muslim countries who were present at a meeting with the US President, Donald Trump, in New York on September 23.

Türkiye Meeting on Gaza

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, said that the meeting will take place in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and the next steps to implement the second phase of the peace plan, according to AFP and Reuters.

During a press conference in Ankara on Friday, Fidan said that the meeting would “evaluate our progress and discuss what we can achieve together in the next stage.”

“The topics being discussed currently are how to proceed to the second stage, the stability force,” he added.

A spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry noted that Ankara had invited the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, and the UAE, all of whom met with Trump in September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Gaza ISF Formation

On October 10, 2025, Hamas and Israel agreed to Trump’s 20-point peace plan, with mediation from Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye. The plan calls for the formation of a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) for immediate deployment in Gaza.

This force will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. It will also pave the way for the disarmament of Hamas and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces.

ISF Troops

The US said it was holding talks with Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye regarding the ISF, with multiple countries showing interest. Furthermore, Israeli media reports said that the ISF could include troops from Pakistan, in addition to Indonesia and Azerbaijan.

However, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said last week that Israel would decide which foreign troops would join the ISF in Gaza.

“We are in control of our security, and we have also made it clear regarding international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us, and this is how we operate and will continue to operate,” he said.

Moreover, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, explicitly opposed the involvement of Türkiye in the proposed international force in Gaza. “Countries that want or are ready to send armed forces should be at least fair to Israel,” he told reporters on Monday.

Fragile Ceasefire

During the signing ceremony of the Gaza ceasefire agreement in Egypt’s Sharm Al-Sheikh, Trump declared that the war between Hamas and Israel was over. However, the ceasefire deal has been tested several times, with Israel launching deadly strikes on parts of Gaza.

From Tuesday to Thursday, Israel launched airstrikes across Gaza in retaliation for the death of an Israeli soldier in an alleged attack in Rafah city, killing over 100 Palestinians, including at least 66 women and children.

In the light of this, Adviser to Qatar’s Prime Minister and spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Majed al-Ansari, urged for rapid progress in forming the ISF and a Palestinian administration to pave the way for full Israeli withdrawal, warning against the current situation in Gaza.

“We don’t want to reach a situation of no war, no peace,” he told the Guardian. “There is a need for the international community to go in, assess the damage, start thinking about reconstruction, working on reconstruction, and to formally keep the peace. This is what will significantly shift the whole process from war to the day after,” al-Ansari added.

Mandate Required

Countries that have shown interest in joining the ISF want a UN mandate, which the US State Secretary, Marco Rubio, said he was working on.

“We’re very hopeful that if we are able to get a security council resolution and a mandate for an administration and an international force in Gaza, that we would be able to stabilize the situation,” the Qatari diplomat said.

“In principle, a lot of the countries in the region and beyond have agreed to be part of this, but in practice that needs a very concrete mandate for the force,” al-Ansari added.