(MENAFN) Jordan’s King Abdullah II cautioned on Monday that nations would refuse to participate if asked to “enforce” peace in Gaza as part of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire initiative.

“What is the mandate of security forces inside of Gaza? And we hope that it is peacekeeping, because if it's peace enforcing, nobody will want to touch that,” the monarch explained during an exclusive interview with BBC Panorama.

He further elaborated, “Peacekeeping is that you're sitting there supporting the local police force, the Palestinians, which Jordan and Egypt are willing to train in large numbers, but that takes time. If we're running around Gaza on patrol with weapons, that's not a situation that any country would like to get involved in.”

The king’s remarks underscored growing apprehensions within the US and other countries about becoming entangled in the ongoing confrontation between the Palestinian movement Hamas and Israel.

As defined by the UN, peace enforcement entails coercive actions that may include the use of military force, whereas peacekeeping functions with the consent of all parties involved in the conflict, and troops are permitted to use force solely in self-defense or to uphold their mandate.

Under Trump’s 20-point peace proposal, Arab nations and global partners are anticipated to provide stabilization forces to “train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza and will consult with Jordan and Egypt, who have extensive experience in this field.”

The plan also requires Hamas to lay down arms and surrender its political control over the territory.

King Abdullah clarified that Jordan would not deploy troops to Gaza, emphasizing that his nation was “too close politically” to the situation to become directly involved.

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