Azerbaijan Rules Out Sending Troops for Gaza Peacekeeping Mission

Azerbaijan has no plans to deploy its troops to peacekeeping operations outside its borders, including any proposed international force in Gaza, President Ilham Aliyev said late Monday.

In an interview with Azerbaijani television channels, Aliyev said Baku had held discussions with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump about the proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza, submitting a detailed list of questions to Washington.

“We prepared a questionnaire of more than 20 questions and provided it to the American side,” Aliyev said. “No participation in peacekeeping forces is envisaged. I am not considering participation in hostilities outside Azerbaijan at all.”

An Azerbaijani government source had previously said in November that the country would not contribute troops to any such mission unless there was a complete ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Despite Azerbaijan’s position, diplomats involved in the Gaza peace discussions told Dawn on Monday that many Muslim-majority countries remain cautiously supportive of the proposed ISF, even as they fear domestic political backlash.

According to the diplomats, supporters argue that only an international force with a clear mandate could protect civilians and ensure the survival of Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

“Israel has already killed more than 70,000 people in Gaza, and only an international force with a clear mandate can stop this genocide,” said one diplomat from a Muslim-majority country directly involved in the process.

Another diplomat acknowledged that joining the ISF would put contributing countries in an extremely difficult position but said the alternatives were worse.

“We know we would be pushed into a very difficult situation if we joined the ISF,” he said. “But the alternative is uninterrupted bloodshed in Gaza, and that is not acceptable to us.”