Jordan's king warns against peace enforcement role in Gaza

Jordan's King Abdullah II has issued a significant warning that countries would refuse to participate in any peace enforcement mission in Gaza under US President Donald Trump's proposed ceasefire plan. In an exclusive BBC Panorama interview, the monarch drew a crucial distinction between peacekeeping operations and more aggressive peace enforcement roles that would involve armed patrols.

Distinction Between Peacekeeping and Enforcement

The Jordanian king clarified that while nations might support training Palestinian police forces, they would reject any mandate requiring combat operations. "What is the mandate of security forces inside of Gaza? And we hope that it is peacekeeping, because if it's peace enforcing, nobody will want to touch that," Abdullah stated. He explained that "peacekeeping is that you're sitting there supporting the local police force," while "running around Gaza on patrol with weapons" represents an unacceptable scenario for potential contributing nations.

Jordan's Position and Regional Context

King Abdullah explicitly ruled out Jordanian troop deployments in Gaza, noting his country was "too close politically" to the situation. This position reflects Jordan's demographic reality, where more than half the population has Palestinian origins and the nation hosts 2.3 million Palestinian refugees. The monarch's stance highlights the complex regional dynamics that would complicate any international security deployment in the post-conflict Gaza situation under the Trump administration's proposed framework.

Humanitarian Concerns and Royal Perspectives

The Jordanian monarch described the devastation he witnessed during three aerial aid missions over Gaza as "just shocking," questioning how the international community could allow such destruction. Queen Rania, speaking in the same program, delivered emotional testimony about the Palestinian experience, describing the nightmare of parents watching their children "suffering, starving, shaking in terror" while feeling powerless to intervene. Despite the current animosity, both expressed cautious hope for eventual Israeli-Palestinian coexistence with international community support.