After the government meeting, Defense Minister Ermal Nufi stated during a media communication that the mission of Albanian soldiers in Gaza is still under discussion with international partners and involved parties.
According to him, given the delicate situation in Gaza, security measures and the specific duties Albanian soldiers would carry out must first be clearly defined, along with guarantees for their safety. Meanwhile, he emphasized that an observation mission has already been sent to assess the situation on the ground.
“We have sent an observation mission to the Gaza Strip to assess the situation there and to evaluate the possibilities for deploying our troops. All coordination is being carried out by the international stabilization forces in Gaza.
We are in discussions with all partners, starting with our American partners and all other partners, in order to clearly understand the rules of engagement, the security rules concerning our forces, the specific duties our troops would carry out there, and the safety measures both for the territory and for the operations conducted by our troops.
We have full confidence in our armed forces and military units, including the Special Operations Unit, EOD units, the military police, and all other units that have participated in international peacekeeping missions, from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Bosnia to every other mission, including Latvia, where we are extending the mandate today. We are fully convinced of the preparation and capabilities of our soldiers.
I am not in a position today to give you a definitive answer because we are still not fully aligned with the involved parties. Not in the sense that we disagree, but because we are still defining more clearly what the rules will be, what the legal bases will be, and what approaches Albanian troops will have on the ground. This is very important because the international legal framework must be clearly established. The region is extremely delicate. There was previously a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, and now a similar type of mission is being extended to the Gaza Strip.
We will be the first to inform you and all Albanian citizens about how we will engage, where exactly we will engage, what the level of participation and the level of risk will be, due to the high sensitivity of the situation. However, we believe this engagement will ultimately contribute to peace in a region and territory facing extraordinary security challenges and very difficult conditions for the Palestinian population and for the security of Israeli citizens in the State of Israel,” he stated.
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