US-backed Gaza committee starts recruiting police, draws 2,000 applicants, officials say

By Pesha Magid and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/CAIRO, Feb 19 (Reuters) – The U.S.-backed Palestinian committee established to take control of Gaza from Hamas militants opened applications for a police force for the enclave on Thursday, as President Donald Trump convened the inaugural meeting of his international Board of Peace.

Trump announced billions of dollars of contributions for Gaza’s reconstruction and his administration detailed plans for a U.N.-authorized stabilization force for the territory at the meeting in Washington. Establishing security in Gaza is one of many formidable hurdles.

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) said in a statement on X that a recruitment process “is open to qualified men and women who wish to serve in the police force”.

It included a link to a website where Palestinians can apply. Applicants must be residents of Gaza aged 18-35, have no criminal record, and be in good physical shape, it said.

Some 2,000 Palestinians signed up for the police force in the first hours after applications went live, Nikolay Mladenov, the Trump-appointed envoy overseeing post-war coordination in Gaza, told the Board of Peace meeting.

Jasper Jeffers, an Army Major General who was appointed commander of a U.N.-authorized multinational peacekeeping force for Gaza, told the meeting that the force’s long-term plan is to train some 12,000 police officers for Gaza.

HAMAS SEEKS ROLES FOR ITS POLICE

Reuters previously reported that Islamist group Hamas was seeking to incorporate its 10,000 police officers into a new U.S.-backed Palestinian administration for Gaza. The group ruled before the war prompted by its attack on Israel and has resumed administration, despite Israel’s vow to destroy it.

Hamas retains control of just under half of Gaza following an October ceasefire deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, with over 50% occupied by Israel.

Israel’s withdrawal and Hamas’s disarmament are among the major stumbling blocks as the U.S. seeks to move forward with its peace plan for the strip.

The 20-point plan to end the war, now in its second phase, calls for the governance of Gaza to be handed to NCAG, which is meant to exclude Hamas.

In its statement, NCAG said it respects “the dedication of the police officers who continued to serve their people amidst the bombardment, displacement, and exceptionally difficult circumstances.”

It did not say whether the future police recruits could include members of the current Gazan police force, which has served while the strip has been under Hamas control.

NCAG and Hamas did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the matter.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem previously told Reuters the group was prepared to hand over governance to the 15-member NCAG and its chair, Ali Shaath, with immediate effect.

“We (have) full confidence that it will operate on the basis of benefiting from qualified personnel and not wasting the rights of anyone who worked during the previous period,” Qassem said, referring to the inclusion of more than 40,000 civil servants and security personnel.

Israel has adamantly rejected any Hamas involvement in Gaza’s future.

Gaza has been devastated by over two years of an Israeli onslaught on the strip, which killed over 72,000 Palestinians according to local health authorities and left much of the strip in ruins.

When Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, they killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Pesha Magid in Jerusalem, Nidal Al Mughrabi in Cairo, and Simon Lewis and Katharine Jackson in Washington; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Rami Ayyub)