The Gaza Peace Effort Could Learn Lessons From Kosovo
Still keeping the peace in Kosovo.
Photographer: Koca Sulejmanovic/AFP/Getty Images
Why does the 20-point peace deal US President Donald Trump brokered for Gaza, barely 10 days ago, already seem to be in trouble?
Instead of getting ready to disarm and retire from politics, Hamas militants have emerged from their hideouts to execute Palestinian rivals and reassert control in areas from which Israeli forces withdrew. Israel says the terrorist group is also ambushing its troops, while Hamas says the Israel Defense Forces continue bombing Gaza from the air. Both accusations look to be accurate, while the IDF is also refusing to reopen the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, as required.
The simple cause of such rapid unraveling is that neither Hamas nor the Israeli government was happy with the agreement they were pressed into signing by Trump and leaders from the region. But, given that both sides said from the start they had no intention of implementing key terms of the deal, “Why are they misbehaving?” is probably the wrong question. A better one would be: “How is it that they can get away with it?”
A good way to find the answer would be to look at what’s probably also the best model for creating a peacekeeping force for Gaza: the Kosovo Force, better known as KFOR, which was formed in 1999 and continues to operate today.
It's no coincidence that the next-day structures laid out in Trump’s 20-point plan were based on a proposal from former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. These in some aspects resemble the ones that he was involved in constructing for Kosovo, which in 1999 was a restive, Muslim-majority province within mainly Orthodox Christian Serbia.