The idea of deploying a protective or peacekeeping force in Palestine is nothing new. After Israel was established through the horrendous massacres and mass ethnic cleansing of 1948, the United Nations set up its Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to observe the implementation of the 1949 Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements. In 1974, it sent the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to support the ceasefire between Israel and Syria, and in 1978, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was deployed on Lebanese territory. None of these forces was able to stop Israeli aggression.After the Israeli reinvasion of the occupied West Bank and the massacre in Jenin in 2002, former United States President Bill Clinton reawakened the idea of an international force in the occupied Palestinian territory.With the outbreak of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, this proposal started getting diplomatic traction again. In May 2024, the Arab League called for a peacekeeping force for the occupied Palestinian territory. The likes of the Atlantic Council supported the idea, and so did various Western officials, including Germany’s genocidal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.In July this year, a high-level conference led by France …
