US-led meeting on Gaza International Stabilization Force inconclusive, IDF reports 12 Gaza ceasefire violations from December 4 to 18

Palestinian terrorists violated the ceasefire in Gaza 12 times between December 4 and December 18, and 64 times since its implementation on October 10, according to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reports.

This week, US Central Command (CENTCOM) hosted a conference in the Qatari capital of Doha involving dozens of nations to discuss the next phases of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan in Gaza. However, the talks, which centered around the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to the enclave, were largely inconclusive. The attendees failed to agree on the composition of the would-be peacekeeping force or its duties, according to European officials.

The United States has delivered formal requests to over 70 nations to volunteer troops and supplies for the deployment of the ISF, but no country has yet committed soldiers. The Trump administration has acknowledged that reaching its goal of recruiting 10,000 troops for the ISF may take most of 2026. The countries currently in talks with Washington are, thus far, only willing to deploy soldiers in the Israeli-controlled side of the “Yellow Line” that demarcates IDF-held territory from areas still under Hamas’s control.

After withdrawing to the Yellow Line during phase one of Trump’s ceasefire in Gaza, the IDF has largely been stationary on what IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir called Israel’s “new border” with Gaza, as it controls some 53 percent of the territory. The United States, for its part, is still imploring would-be volunteer countries to agree to operate on the Hamas-controlled side of the “Yellow Line” to prevent a renewed IDF operation against the terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Hamas is still refusing to disarm, despite the 20-point plan requiring the group to lay down its weapons. In an address in Istanbul last week, Hamas politburo member Khaled Mashal stated that the Palestinian people need “protection, not guardians,” critiquing Trump’s plan to deploy an ISF in the territory. Mashal also asserted that “protecting [Hamas’s] weapons is our people’s right to self-defense.”

While the Gaza ceasefire continues to hold, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists continue to violate phase one of the truce. Below is a list of all violations of the ceasefire by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups between December 4 and December 18 that the IDF has reported:

• On December 4, forces from the IDF’s 7th Brigade Combat Team “identified a terrorist who crossed the yellow line and approached IDF forces operating in the southern Strip, in a manner that posed an immediate threat to them.” The forces opened fire and hit the individual, according to the IDF.
• On December 5, the IDF said that “Northern Brigade forces identified two terrorists carrying suspicious items and approaching IDF forces operating in the northern [Gaza] Strip, in a manner that posed an immediate threat to them.” The individuals were subsequently struck by an Israeli Air Force aircraft. The IDF stated that one of the terrorists was eliminated in the strike.
• On December 6, the IDF stated that “in two separate incidents earlier today, forces of the Northern Brigade and the combat team of the ‘Carmeli’ Brigade identified several terrorists who crossed the yellow line and posed an immediate threat to them.” Three individuals in the group were eliminated across both incidents, according to the IDF.
• On December 7, the IDF said that soldiers with the 7th Armored Brigade’s combat team “identified a terrorist who crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat to them” in southern Gaza. The interloper was eliminated shortly after identification, according to the IDF.
• On December 10, the IDF stated that “Northern Brigade combat team forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip identified two terrorists who crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat.” The IDF said that troops fired at the pair and eliminated one. Later that day, Palestinian media reported that three people in northern Gaza’s Jabalia were killed, including one child. It is unclear whether the two incidents were connected.
• On December 11, the IDF said that forces with the 7th Armored Brigade’s combat team “identified two terrorists who crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat” in southern Gaza. One individual was eliminated in the incident, according to the IDF.
• On December 13, the IDF said that troops with the Northern Brigade combat team “operating in the northern Gaza Strip identified a terrorist who crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat to them.” Israel said that the Israeli Air Force, guided by troops, eliminated the terrorists.
• On December 14, the IDF stated that soldiers with the “Northern Brigade Combat Team forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip identified a terrorist who crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat to them.” The individual was eliminated, according to the IDF statement.
• On December 15, the IDF stated that troops from the 7th Armored Brigade’s combat team eliminated a “terrorist” who “crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat to them.”
• On December 16, the IDF said that forces from the 7th Armored Brigade’s combat team “identified earlier today a terrorist who crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat to them, while carrying a suspicious object.” The IDF said that the individual was eliminated shortly after identification.
• On December 18, the IDF stated that soldiers from the 188th Brigade’s combat team “identified a terrorist who crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat.” The Israeli Air Force eliminated the individual in coordination with the 188th.

These incidents occurred while Israel awaits the return of the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage held in Gaza. Gvili was killed while trying to save civilians at Kibbutz Alumim during Hamas’s onslaught on October 7, 2023. Phase one of Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan required Hamas to return all hostages, living and deceased, within 72 hours of the truce’s implementation. Nearly two and a half months after its implementation, the terror group has yet to fulfill this obligation.

Samuel Ben-Ur and Aaron Goren are research analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow Aaron Goren on X @realaarongoren.