Egypt Ramps Up Training of Gaza Police as Regional and International Plans Converge on Post-War Security Framework

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Egypt has accelerated the training of hundreds of Palestinian police officers as part of an emerging post-war security blueprint for Gaza, a Palestinian official told AFP, marking one of the first concrete steps toward reshaping governance in the enclave after months of devastating conflict.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty first announced in August that Cairo planned to train 5,000 officers for the Gaza Strip following talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.

A pilot group of more than 500 officers completed training in March, and since September, additional groups have begun rolling into two-month courses in Cairo.

According to a Palestinian official who spoke on condition of anonymity, all members of the new force will be recruited from Gaza and paid by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah.

“I’m very happy with the training. We want a permanent end to war and aggression, and we’re eager to serve our country and fellow citizens,” said one 26-year-old trainee.

Another officer, a lieutenant who left Gaza with his family last year, described “outstanding operational training” using modern surveillance tools.

He said the curriculum also examined the fallout of Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel — an assault that killed 1,221 people — and the sweeping destruction unleashed by Israel’s response.

Cairo’s program also emphasizes the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) primacy as the sole representative of the Palestinian people and frames the training as part of “protecting the dream” of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state.

A senior PA security official said President Mahmoud Abbas instructed Interior Minister Ziad Hab al-Reeh to coordinate directly with Egypt.

During Egyptian-brokered talks late last year, Palestinian factions — including Hamas and Fatah — agreed to form a 10,000-member police force. Egypt would train half, while the remaining 5,000 would come from the existing Gaza police apparatus, which has operated under Hamas control since 2007.

The new security structure would be overseen by a technocratic committee approved by all Palestinian movements. A senior Hamas official confirmed to AFP that the movement supports the agreement’s provisions on Gaza’s security and administrative future.

The push aligns with components of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which underpinned last month’s fragile ceasefire and was later endorsed by the UN Security Council.

The plan allows for the creation of an international force to secure Gaza’s borders and support demilitarization efforts.

The European Union is likewise preparing to train up to 3,000 Palestinian police officers under a Gaza program modeled on its existing West Bank mission, which has been EU-funded since 2006 with an annual budget of roughly €13 million (about $15 million).

Yet significant political hurdles remain. A Hamas official told AFP that Israel’s cooperation on the force’s final structure is far from guaranteed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has repeatedly rejected any post-war role for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.

Despite this stance, AFP journalists have observed Hamas fighters continuing to manage traffic, resolve disputes, and maintain a basic form of law enforcement inside Gaza. The group insists it does not seek to govern Gaza again, but says it will not disappear from Palestinian political life.

On disarmament — one of the most contentious issues — Hamas has signaled willingness to hand over portions of its arsenal, but only within a broader Palestinian political process rather than through unilateral concessions.

As ceasefire diplomacy unfolds, Egypt’s training program has emerged as a crucial pillar of the international effort to build a post-war order in Gaza — one that balances political realities on the ground with competing regional and global visions for the territory’s future.