Bangladesh Signals Interest in Joining Proposed International Stabilization Force in Gaza

Bangladesh has informed the United States of its interest in joining a proposed international stabilization force that could be deployed in Gaza, the Bangladeshi government said on Saturday.

According to an official statement, Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman raised the issue during a meeting in Washington with senior US officials Allison Hooker and Paul Kapur. Rahman “expressed Bangladesh’s interest in principle to be part of the international stabilization force that would be deployed in Gaza,” the statement said, without detailing the scale, role or nature of Dhaka’s potential involvement. The US State Department did not immediately comment.

The proposed force stems from a UN Security Council resolution adopted in mid-November, which authorized the establishment of a temporary International Stabilization Force in Gaza under a framework involving a so-called Board of Peace and participating countries. The force is intended to operate following a ceasefire that came into effect in October.

However, the ceasefire has stalled after its initial phase, with little progress toward subsequent steps. Since the truce began, more than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed, according to available figures. Nearly all of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents are living in makeshift shelters or damaged buildings within a narrow area where Israeli forces have withdrawn and Hamas has reasserted control.

Israel and Hamas remain sharply divided over the next, more complex phase of the ceasefire, with both sides accusing each other of violations. Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since late 2023 has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, triggered a severe hunger crisis and displaced the territory’s entire population, according to humanitarian agencies. Multiple rights experts, legal scholars and a UN inquiry have described the campaign as amounting to genocide.

Israel has rejected that characterization, saying its actions constitute self-defense following the October 2023 Hamas attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage.

Bangladesh’s expression of interest comes amid growing international debate over post-ceasefire security arrangements in Gaza and the role foreign forces could play in stabilizing the devastated enclave.