Congress notified of $206m for Gaza ISF; Israel will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed

By Patrick Lancier

TL;DR — The Jerusalem Post, reprinting Reuters (notifications dated 30 July; reported about 19 August 2026), writes that the Trump administration has told Congress it will provide more than $206 million for a proposed Gaza International Stabilization Force — the first significant U.S. spending on that force. Two notices: $200 million for ISF equipment, infrastructure, vehicles and operational costs, and about $6.3 million to repurpose nine armored personnel carriers previously destined for Nepal, with Albania and Kosovo the initial recipients. Read the papers for what they are. They are kit and operating money for a force that, in the plan itself, deploys after an Israeli withdrawal. That withdrawal has not happened. Hamas is still armed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the late-July deal this month: Israel will not pull back until Hamas is completely disarmed. An Israeli official told Reuters that Netanyahu and Jared Kushner agreed reconstruction will not start until Hamas is disarmed. Force composition is still being negotiated. The administration has not said how much will ultimately be needed. This is not a signed deployment. Humanitarian aid is not written here as already ended.

Two 30 July notices: $200 million, then about $6.3 million

The Jerusalem Post, carrying Reuters, says the State Department informed Congress in two notifications dated 30 July — addressed to key appropriations and foreign affairs committees, and not previously reported when Reuters saw them — that Washington will provide $200 million for the International Stabilization Force’s equipment, infrastructure, vehicles and operational costs. A second notice, same date, worth around $6.3 million, says the United States is repurposing nine armored personnel carriers previously destined for Nepal to support the ISF, with Albania and Kosovo the initial recipients as part of their role in that force. Another line in the same dispatch refers to an additional about $6 million to repurpose U.S. armored vehicles. Keep $6 million and $6.3 million on their own sentences. More than $206 million is the sum of the two papers. It is not a full force budget, and it is not a treaty.

A separate State Department official, still in that Reuters file, confirmed the agency sent the notification, described the funding as “initial,” and said Washington would continue to support the Board of Peace. The administration has not said how much money will ultimately be needed to fund the force. First significant U.S. spending is not a ceiling, and it is not troops already in Gaza.

The force is written to follow an Israeli withdrawal that has not occurred

One notification, quoted by Reuters via The Jerusalem Post: “The ISF will lead security operations, support comprehensive demilitarization, and enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction material to Gaza.” The same notice said the final composition of the force was still being negotiated. That is the paper’s own sequence: security operations, demilitarization, aid. It is not a field report.

President Donald Trump set up a Board of Peace to oversee the plan. As Reuters describes that plan, the peacekeeping force would deploy to Gaza to secure areas after Israeli forces withdraw, would train new Palestinian police forces, and would support aid deliveries. After. Not instead of disarmament, and not while Hamas still holds weapons. The $206 million is equipment and operating money for that later force. It does not move the IDF out of Gaza, and it does not disarm Hamas. Much of Gaza remains in ruins from two years of war triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023. This file invents no death toll for that day and none since.

Hamas is still armed; Netanyahu will not pull back first

On 30 July — the same date as the two congressional notices — Trump announced what he described as a breakthrough: that Hamas had agreed to lay down its arms in phases as Israel’s military withdraws from Gaza. Hamas, in the same Reuters account, said it agreed to the roadmap but that implementation depends on Israel first meeting Hamas’s own list, including halting attacks and withdrawing. That is Hamas’s condition. It is not Israel’s, and it is not treated here as a timetable Israel is obliged to run while the organization that started the war on 7 October 2023 remains armed.

Since the late-July announcement, the effort has stalled. Israel and Hamas have not fulfilled the conditions that would let the deal move. Netanyahu, Reuters reports, rejected the deal this month, insisting that Israel would not pull back until Hamas is completely disarmed. That is the Israeli position this article records: complete disarmament first, withdrawal after. An Israeli official told Reuters earlier this week that Netanyahu and Kushner also agreed Gaza’s reconstruction would not start until Hamas is disarmed. Reconstruction is not written here as already under way, and humanitarian aid is not written here as already ended.

Kushner, Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, met Hamas officials on Sunday and Israeli leaders on Monday in Jerusalem and left without a breakthrough, both sides standing firm on those demands. JNS, via the Cleveland Jewish News, adds that the Monday meeting with Netanyahu lasted nearly four hours. After it, Kushner told Fox News that demilitarizing Gaza could begin within 30 days and that Washington would not support rebuilding Gaza before demilitarization. A meeting is not a handover of weapons. A notification to Congress is not a substitute for one.

The same JNS file, dated Thursday, records the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem: Israel’s political leadership has not approved the entry of the International Stabilization Force into Gaza. The PMO added that, contrary to reports, “Israel has made clear there will be no reconstruction in the Strip before Hamas is fully disarmed.” That is a political refusal of entry, not a signed deployment cancelled after the fact. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, speaking Wednesday to Al Arabiya English and quoted by JNS, dismissed claims that Jerusalem had rejected the 15-point plan and put the sequence in one line: “The point is what comes first: disarmament, or Israel moving.” Then: “How many guns has Hamas given up so far? The answer—zero. Not one. Not a pistol, not even so much as a slingshot. So until Hamas starts giving up weapons there’s no reason to expect Israel to change its posture.” JNS’s own label for the Trump plan in that piece is the “20-point Trump Gaza plan”; the Board of Peace roadmap is the “15-point” text Huckabee was asked about; Piggott’s State Department email, in the Jerusalem Post file, says “21-point.” The three labels stay on their sources. They are not merged here.

Five troop pledges, Egypt and Jordan for police, no clock

Five countries have committed troops to the ISF so far: Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania. Egypt and Jordan have committed to train Palestinian police. Reuters writes that it remains unclear when any troops would be able to deploy. Five names are not an order of battle. Nine APCs for Albania and Kosovo are not an arrival date. Force composition is still being negotiated. This article invents neither a United Nations mandate nor an Israeli cabinet decision as if foreign troops were already inside Gaza.

A Board of Peace official, granted anonymity to speak freely, called the last two weeks a period of “significant advances” and said the board had sought additional funding pledges, including for construction of a base for forces inside Gaza. Sought pledges are not a published take-up, and they are not a deployment. Member countries had initially pledged $17 billion for reconstruction inside Gaza; Reuters reported in April that only a fraction of those funds had been received. The Board of Peace has not made public the amount received so far. $17 billion is pledges. It is not cash already spent on a force that has not gone in.

Piggott’s 21-point line is a commitment, not a unit in the field

State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said in an emailed statement: “We are committed to the full implementation of the President’s historic 21-point peace plan, of which the ISF is a key component.” He added that the administration was encouraged by “steady progress” by the Board of Peace. The figure in that sentence is 21. It is not rewritten here. Steady progress, in an email, is not a withdrawal, not a Hamas disarmament, and not a signed deployment.

On 21 August 2026 the English file is this: more than $206 million notified to Congress for equipment, infrastructure, vehicles and operations, plus nine APCs; a force still being composed; a plan that puts that force in Gaza only after Israel withdraws; and an Israeli prime minister who will not withdraw while Hamas is still armed. The Jerusalem Post did not write the next move. Neither does this article.

FAQ

Is this a signed deployment of the Gaza ISF?

No. The Jerusalem Post, reprinting Reuters, is reporting two congressional notifications dated 30 July. Composition of the force is still being negotiated. Reuters writes that it remains unclear when any troops would be able to deploy. This article does not treat the notices as a signed deployment or as troops already in Gaza.

What do the two 30 July notifications say?

First: $200 million for the International Stabilization Force’s equipment, infrastructure, vehicles and operational costs. Second, same date, worth around $6.3 million: nine armored personnel carriers previously destined for Nepal, with Albania and Kosovo the initial recipients as part of their ISF role. Together, more than $206 million. The administration has not said how much will ultimately be needed. A separate State Department official called the funding “initial.”

Does the plan put the ISF in Gaza before Israel withdraws?

No. Reuters, via The Jerusalem Post, describes the plan as sending the force to secure areas after Israeli forces withdraw, to train new Palestinian police, and to support aid deliveries. The $206 million is kit and operating money for that later force. The withdrawal has not happened.

Has Hamas been disarmed?

No. Hamas is still armed. On 30 July Trump said Hamas had agreed to lay down its arms in phases as the IDF withdraws. Hamas said implementation depends on Israel first, including a halt to attacks and a withdrawal. Netanyahu this month: Israel will not pull back until Hamas is completely disarmed.

Will reconstruction start while Hamas is armed?

Not on the Israeli position in this file. An Israeli official told Reuters that Netanyahu and Kushner agreed Gaza’s reconstruction would not start until Hamas is disarmed. Humanitarian aid is not written here as already ended.

Who has pledged troops?

Five countries so far: Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania. Egypt and Jordan have committed to train police. Reuters: unclear when any troops could deploy.

Did the State Department call this a 21-point plan?

Yes. Tommy Piggott, by email, said the administration was committed to “the full implementation of the President’s historic 21-point peace plan, of which the ISF is a key component.” This article does not rewrite 21 as another number.

Sources

By Patrick Lancier

Congress notified of $206m for Gaza ISF; Israel will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed