Breakaway Balkan region to send troops to Gaza

The government of Kosovo has said it will back Trump’s so-called stabilization force in the Palestinian enclave

The breakaway region of Kosovo has approved sending troops to Gaza as part of a force proposed by US President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’, its prime minister, Albin Kurti, announced on Monday. 

Speaking in a televised meeting, Kurti stated that Kosovo is “ready to participate and help the people of Gaza, because we ourselves have been and are beneficiaries of international forces since 1999.” 

The Albanian-separatist state, a product of the NATO-backed war on Yugoslavia that included the bombing of Belgrade, controversially declared independence in 2008, despite concern from many nations about the precedent set. 

Kosovo remains unrecognized by over 90 UN member states, including Serbia, Russia, China, India, Spain, and Greece. Meanwhile, former Kosovo president and insurrection leader Hashim Thaci has been accused of war crimes and is awaiting a verdict from The Hague while facing a separate trial for obstruction of justice. 

The ‘International Stabilization Force’ (ISF), was envisioned in a UN Security Council resolution passed last November in support of Trump’s 20‑point plan for postwar Gaza. It has since become part of Trump’s broader Board of Peace established in January to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction and the implementation of the ceasefire. 

The ISF’s stated mission includes training a new Palestinian police force, securing the borders, maintaining security, protecting humanitarian operations, and helping demilitarize the enclave. 

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Several other nations, including Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, and Albania, have also committed troops to the ISF. However, Kosovo, which only has 4,000 active military personnel, ranks the lowest among them in terms of actual military strength, placing 139th out of 145 countries according to Global Firepower. Kurti has not specified how many soldiers Kosovo would commit. 

Other countries, such as Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE, have been in talks about contributing, while major Western powers, including Germany, France, and the UK, have declined to join the board or the force. 

Russia has said it is studying an invitation to join Trump’s Board of Peace, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has noted that the initiative now seems irrelevant given US aggression in the Middle East. China has declined, citing its commitment to a UN‑centered international system. 

Despite a ceasefire reached between Hamas and Israel last October, violence in Gaza has persisted. Israeli forces have killed at least 680 Palestinians since the truce began, according to local health officials, raising the overall death toll since October 2023 to more than 72,000, the majority women and children.