Egypt is training hundreds of Palestinians to bolster security when war in Gaza ends

Egypt is training hundreds of Palestinian security operatives in preparation for a post-war Gaza, Middle East Monitor reports citing Israeli media. 

In April, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a conference in Turkey, that Egypt had begun recruiting Palestinian security operatives who would be trained to oversee security in Gaza, the Times of Israel reports.

“We are empowering the Palestinian policemen, providing training and recruiting new members in order to be deployed in Gaza to take care of the law, order and security in Gaza,” Abdelatty said at the time. “And, of course, we are standing ready for deployment of an international force – protection, peacekeeping, whatever we call it — to be there in order to provide security and protection for the Palestinians.”

The security force would be part of a broader $53 billion reconstruction plan endorsed by the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. 

The initiative, first proposed in March, includes three phases: a six-month transitional administration under a technocratic committee, a three-to-five-year reconstruction phase focused on infrastructure like ports and airports, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force until local forces are ready.

The plan aims to restore Palestinian governance in Gaza and eventually support the establishment of a Palestinian state. The proposal stands in contrast to far-right Israeli visions of annexing Gaza and resettling its population.