US considering international force deployment to Gaza under possible UN mandate

TEL AVIV (MNTV) — The United States is exploring options to deploy international forces to Gaza, possibly under a United Nations mandate, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday.

“Some of these countries can’t participate unless they have a mandate from the UN,” Rubio told reporters at the US-Israel coordination center for Gaza in Kiryat Gat, about 56 kilometers south of Tel Aviv.

“So maybe it’ll be a UN resolution—that’s one route. We could have an international agreement as well. We’re working through that. We’ll find the right formula to do it,” he added.

On the Gaza ceasefire deal, Rubio said implementing the plan “won’t be a linear journey,” noting that there would be “ups and downs and twists and turns,” but expressed “healthy optimism” about the progress so far.

He also warned against Israeli legislative efforts to annex the occupied West Bank, calling them “a threat to the peace process.”

Rubio reaffirmed Washington’s support for expanding the 2020 normalization agreements between Israel and Arab nations.

“We’d like to have as many members of the Abraham Accords as possible,” he said.

His remarks came a day after US Deputy President JD Vance concluded a three-day visit to Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.

The first phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire deal—reached on October 10—includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

It also envisions rebuilding Gaza and establishing a new governing structure without Hamas.

Since October 2023, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed more than 68,200 people and injured over 170,300, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.