By Alexander Ward, Robbie Gramer and Benoit Faucon
WASHINGTON -- Trump administration officials are seeking to recruit a multinational force of around 10,000 troops under a U.S. general to stabilize postwar Gaza, officials say, but acknowledge it will take much of the next year to get them in place.
No foreign countries have yet committed troops, partly over reservations that the mission could expand to include disarming Hamas militants who remain active in parts of the shattered enclave, officials said.
Even the two nations U.S. officials say are on the verge of sending troops -- Azerbaijan and Indonesia -- favor a narrower mandate that wouldn't involve them in potentially lethal operations.
Some U.S. officials are hopeful they will secure commitments for up to 5,000 troops early next year and will raise that to 10,000 total by the end of 2026. Others say the force is unlikely to ever have more than 8,000 personnel, far fewer than U.S. officials aim to recruit.
Michael Singh, a former National Security Council official who handled Middle East issues in the George W. Bush administration, said a stabilization force that avoids confronting Hamas might create new problems.
"Peacekeepers who are unwilling to use force risk creating a worst-case scenario for Israel: a force that not only fails to disarm Hamas, but acts as cover for the group's rearmament and an obstacle to Israel's freedom of action," he said.
The embassies of Indonesia and Azerbaijan in the U.S. didn't respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. State Department on Monday formally asked more than 70 countries for their military or financial contributions to the security force, officials said, ranging from close allies such as Italy and France, to smaller countries including Malta and El Salvador.
The message says Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are already in discussions with the U.S. to fund the Gaza effort, noting that they "will require consistent engagement for specific asks."
A U.S. official said 19 countries have responded expressing interest in contributing troops or helping in other ways, such as providing equipment, transportation or logistics support.
More than 25 countries are expected to meet in Qatar next week for a U.S.-led meeting to make plans for the force's composition and the scope of the mission, officials said.
Vice President JD Vance said in October that the force was key to disarming Hamas, telling reporters during a visit to Israel that the task was "going to take some time and it's going to depend a lot on the composition of that force."
President Trump outlined a multistep plan to rebuild Gaza after brokering a cease-fire in late September. Even the first phase of the plan, which includes the return of all hostages, hasn't been completed, according to Israel. Hamas still holds the body of Ran Gvili, which Israel says must be released before the peace process can continue.
Trump is eager to declare the start of the next phase of the plan early next year, which calls for naming a Board of Peace to oversee reconstruction, and a group of Palestinian technocrats to administer Gaza. Israeli forces would also begin the process of withdrawing from the enclave under the plan.
Trump is expected to name the U.S. general to command the force early next year. No U.S. troops will participate inside Gaza, officials said, though some are stationed at a coordination center in nearby Kiryat Gat, Israel.
With Hamas refusing to disarm and details unresolved on who eventually will govern the enclave, talks on moving to the second phase of the plan are gridlocked.
"We accepted Trump's plan as a whole, we made compromises, and we were not happy with everything in it," Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the U.N., said in an interview. "But when you read the plan, it says very clearly that the next phase will take place after all of the hostages are released."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Trump in Miami before the end of the year, officials said. They are expected to discuss the practicalities of moving to the next phase of the peace process.
Gaza is still in ruins, and living conditions for the enclave's more than two million residents remain dire. Most Palestinians are staying in tents pitched in overcrowded camps and rubble-strewn streets. The onset of winter has worsened conditions, with heavy rains flooding camps.
A major unresolved issue is Netanyahu's opposition to allowing the Palestinian Authority a role in postwar Gaza. This stance clashes with the desire of Arab countries that want to see the authority play a major role in Gaza.
U.S. officials point out that it has been only a month since Trump's peace plan was passed in a United Nations Security Council resolution adopting the blueprint.
"The Trump administration has made tremendous progress in record time in implementing President Trump's 20-point peace plan and we have seen unbelievable interest from countries across the world to be a part of this historic effort to deliver a lasting peace in the Middle East," White House spokesman Dylan Johnson said.
Countries in talks with the U.S. said they wanted their forces to operate in Gaza's eastern "green zone," a Hamas-free area, while Israel's military mans the "yellow line" roughly bisecting the enclave from north to south. Armed Hamas members would remain in the smaller "red zone" hugging Gaza's coastline.
But U.S. officials haven't given up on persuading troop-contributing countries to expand their mission into Hamas-controlled areas. Any delay in disarming the militants could prompt the Israeli military to remain in Gaza instead of fully withdrawing, as the peace plan demands, U.S. officials say.
Hamas has privately signaled it is open to decommissioning its heavy weapons under Egyptian supervision, officials said. But publicly, it is taking a much stronger stance as negotiations over disarming continue, insisting that it will only consider giving up its weapons in return for U.S.-brokered commitments on creation of a Palestinian state.
"If there is a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a clear horizon toward a Palestinian state, we will deal with suggestions on weapons in a positive way," Husam Badran, a member of Hamas's political bureau, told The Wall Street Journal at the group's office in Doha, Qatar.
Trump's closest allies in Washington remain skeptical that Hamas will ever lay down its arms voluntarily.
"I don't see an Arab-led force coming over the horizon that will literally disarm Hamas. I don't see them giving up with their weapons," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said. "This idea of developing Gaza with an armed faction of Hamas still in play makes no sense to me."
Only Israel could succeed in such a mission, he said. "It is going to take an armed intervention by Israel to disarm Hamas. I just don't see any credible force to do that other than the Israelis."
Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said this week that his forces might never leave the "yellow line," calling it a potentially permanent "new border."
The United Nations said last month it would cost about $70 billion to rebuild Gaza, with around 75% of buildings in the Strip damaged or destroyed. U.S. officials hope that Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. will contribute significant funds to Gaza's reconstruction. Qatar, another wealthy Arab country, suggested Israel should foot the bill.
"We aren't the ones who are going to write a check to rebuild what others destroyed," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Qatar's prime minister, said at a conference in Doha this month. "When you are talking about Gaza," he continued, "Israel flattened this land."
Write to Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com, Robbie Gramer at robbie.gramer@wsj.com and Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 13, 2025 12:00 ET (17:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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