Turkey & Muslim allies signal Hamas is 'ready to hand over Gaza', but push back against Trump's idea for 'Board of Peace'

Turkey gathered a group of foreign ministers and representatives from Arab and Islamic countries in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the future administration of Gaza, its reconstruction, and the deployment of an international stabilization force. 

At a press conference following the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claimed that Hamas is “ready to hand Gaza to a committee of Palestinians.” 

The Turkish foreign minister also indicated a lack of support for the advisory board envisioned by U.S. President Donald Trump, dubbed the "Board of Peace," as part of his 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war. 

"Our principle is that Palestinians should govern the Palestinians and ensure their own security, the international community should support this in the best possible way – diplomatically, institutionally and economically,” Fidan said following the meeting. “Nobody wants to see a new system of tutelage emerge.” 

President Trump’s peace plan calls for the establishment of the Board of Peace and to give it oversight of the “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” slated to govern Gaza for a temporary period. 

Fidan’s comments appear to categorically reject such an advisory board. 

Turkey hosted the meeting, which included representatives from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Turkey, to discuss the security and administration of the Gaza Strip in the next phase of Trump’s ceasefire plan.

Those same nations participated in the summit hosted by Egypt following the announcement by President Trump of the Gaza ceasefire and the release of all Israeli hostages. 

The Istanbul meeting followed consultations and efforts by mediators, including Egypt, to reach an agreement regarding the temporary international security force to be tasked with maintaining security and disarming Hamas. The meeting also came following talks over the weekend between Hamas leaders and Turkish officials. 

Echoing comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who on Monday accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, Fidan claimed that Israel is “regularly breaching the ceasefire,” while failing to mention the several Hamas violations, which led to the death of three IDF soldiers over the past two weeks. 

Erdoğan had previously accused Israel of ceasefire violations, while claiming Hamas is “quite determined” to abide by the agreement. 

“It seems Hamas is quite determined to adhere to the agreement while Israel’s record is very poor,” Erdoğan said at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) economic summit on Monday. "Since the ceasefire agreement, we are facing an (Israeli) administration that has killed more than 200 innocent people and has not halted its occupation and attacks in the West Bank.” 

Turkish FM Fidan also said that the nations in the talks will make the decision whether to send troops as part of the international stabilization force (ISF) after an agreement on is reached on the role and scope of the ISF’s mandate. 

“The ISF definition and its mandate, what it will be – based on that, countries will make their decisions,” Fidan said. “We are ready to make every kind of sacrifice but, as I expressed, the documents and the frame that will come out should be of a nature that we can also support.” 

"First, a general consensus needs to be reached on a draft, then it needs to be approved by the members of the Security Council,” Fidan stated. “And it needs to be free from vetoes by any of the permanent (UNSC) members,” he continued. 

Such a move would prevent the U.S. from voting against Security Council resolutions or actions it views as harmful to Israel. It is not clear whether the U.S. would agree to such a condition, and Israel would likely strongly oppose any attempt to create a military force on its borders not subject to a veto. 

Israel remains highly suspicious of Turkish involvement in the Gaza ceasefire, as both Turkey and Qatar have close relations with Hamas, hosting some of the terror group’s leaders, and providing financial and other material support to the group over the years. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Turkey cannot contribute to the ISF. 

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar reiterated Israel’s position that Hamas must be disarmed and the Gaza Strip demilitarized. 

“Hamas must be disarmed. Gaza must be demilitarized,” Sa’ar said, speaking on a diplomatic trip to India. “The eradication of the Hamas terror state is at the heart of President Trump’s plan.” 

Hamas has so far refused to disarm, saying it would only hand over its weapons to the government of a Palestinian state.