A boy walks past a mural painted on a destroyed building in the Maghazi refugee camp outside Deir al-Balah. AFP
Two Israeli officials told Axios reporter and former Israeli soldier Barak Ravid that US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials during a visit this week that Washington intends to lead the ISF and appoint the general.
“Waltz even said he knows the general personally and stressed he is a very serious guy,” one of the officials said.
Waltz also said that US command of the force should reassure Israel that it will operate according to agreed standards, Axios reported. Two US officials confirmed the plan to Axios.
Trump secured a ceasefire in Israel's genocidal war on Gaza that took effect on 10 October as part of a 20-point plan that he has hailed as bringing stability to the region.
The United States has already established a civil-military headquarters inside Israel, allegedly to monitor the ceasefire and to coordinate humanitarian aid.
However, Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire, killing at least 360 Palestinians and injuring more than 900 since it came into effect, making it appear as a one-sided truce. Israel has also maintained its blockade, allowing only limited aid into Gaza. UN and international agencies warn that the level of assistance remains dangerously insufficient.
Despite these violations, the US administration aims to move to the next phase of the deal. Under that phase, Israeli occupation forces would pull back, the ISF would deploy across Gaza, and a new governance structure, including a Trump-led so-called "Board of Peace," would take effect.
Senior advisers are expected to serve on that international executive board. The UN Security Council has authorized both the ISF and the board. Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to announce the board in early 2026.
Multiple sources in the US, the Palestinian Territories, and Egypt have revealed earlier that discussions are ongoing regarding the ISF, the Board of Peace, and a technocratic Palestinian government, but no definitive decisions have been made or communicated.
US officials are in the final stages of assembling the ISF and the governance plan for Gaza, Axios said, adding that Washington has proposed that former UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov serve as the board’s representative on the ground, sources told Axios.
The administration has been briefing Western governments on the ISF and the board and inviting them to join. Germany and Italy have received invitations, two sources said.
Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Egypt have previously signaled willingness to contribute troops, although it is unclear whether those offers still stand. Muslim countries have generally been hesitant to participate, expressing concern over the rules of engagement for the new force.
Egypt has voiced support for deploying an international stabilization force in Gaza as outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 2803, particularly to help monitor and verify the ceasefire.
Israel, on the other hand, has told US officials it will not accept Turkish troops in the ISF, citing strained relations with Ankara.
A European diplomat said US officials told partners that the ISF would begin deploying once the Board of Peace is established. US officials allegedly told European diplomats in Tel Aviv that if their countries do not send forces or support those that do, the Israeli occupation army will remain in the areas of Gaza it still occupies, according to Axios.
Israel currently occupies more than half of Gaza, a division demarcated by what is known as the “Yellow Line.” It also controls all border crossings and encircles the remaining Palestinian territory on land and by sea.
Israel's carpet bombing and blockade have devastated the Palestinian Strip, sparked famine, and killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Rights groups, genocide scholars, and a UN committee of experts have declared Israel's two-year war a genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
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