WASHINGTON Ñ The Bush administration has established guidelines for
the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip.
Officials said the administration has agreed to the deployment of
several hundred troops from several countries who would serve as monitors of
any ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. They said the
peacekeepers would begin as a small force of about 100 and then expand
according to circumstances on the ground, Middle East Newsline reported.
"We're not talking large numbers of troops," U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell said. "We're talking about some small numbers of people that we
would draw, perhaps from our diplomatic presence there, or send in some
other individuals from the State Department and/or other government
agencies."
Powell has obtained pledges from several European Union countries to
participate in the peacekeeping force. This includes military personnel from
Britain and Germany.
The Defense Department has opposed any U.S. military operation meant to
separate Israeli and Palestinian forces. Last week, a U.S. Army study
disclosed that 20,000 troops armed with armored personnel carriers,
artillery, helicopters and tanks would be required to stop
Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
"They would not be inter-positional force, trying to keep people from
shooting at each other," Powell said on Wednesday. "They would be monitors
and observers, trying to help the two parties keep the agreement they made,
we hope, in good faith."
The PA has pressed for an international peacekeeping force that would
replace Israel's military in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On Thursday,
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was quoted as saying that he supported
an international monitoring force.
