Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesThe United States has failed to recruit substantial troop contingents for the proposed 20,000-strong international stabilisation force (ISF) for Gaza. This has delivered a major blow to US president Donald Trump’s peace proposal for Gaza and the Middle East that he proclaimed during the October 13th summit at Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheikh. Trump’s aim was to remove Gaza from the global agenda, promote Arab normalisation with Israel and focus on Russia’s war on Ukraine. Children stand at the site where Palestinians were killed on December 3rd by an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on December 4th, 2025. Israel’s military said it had targeted a “Hamas terrorist” in retaliation for an earlier attack in Gaza that wounded five Israeli soldiers.

Source: The Irish Times December 04, 2025 15:03 UTC