Joint Statement by U.S. Organizations concerning the potential inclusion of Azerbaijan in the Planned International Security Force for Gaza
We, the below-listed U.S. nongovernmental organizations are deeply concerned by media reports that the International Security Force (ISF) planned for Gaza under President Trump’s 20-Point Plan may include a military contingent from Azerbaijan, and urge the United States and other partners to reject such a presence.
International third party security or peacekeeping forces can be an important element of post conflict stabilization, but as the performance of certain militaries operating under the MONUSCO mission in Congo and the MINUSTAH mission in Haiti demonstrate, it is vital that such forces bring both impartiality and a track record of respect for human rights.
The potential inclusion of an Azerbaijani military component in Gaza is alarming in both respects:
Israel and Azerbaijan’s military ties have deepened significantly in the last decade, undermining confidence in Azerbaijan’s capacity to play an impartial stabilizing role.Israel is a major supplier to Azerbaijan’s military, accounting for up to 70% of Azerbaijan’s arms imports – including of key munitions such as the Barak-8 Extended Range air-defense system and advanced unmanned aerial systems including the Heron and Searcher, and loitering weapons such as the Harop. Israel’s role as a key supplier to Azerbaijan, particularly of cutting-edge and AI-enabled military technology, as well as the two nation’s strong intelligence and security cooperation ties, bring considerable doubt as to whether Azerbaijan would be willing to call balls and strikes when it comes to ceasefire violations, or will instead act essentially as a proxy of the Israeli Defense Forces. Additionally, up to 40% of Israel’s oil imports come from Azerbaijan – further casting doubt on Azerbaijan’s capacity and willingness to play an impartial role in the proposed International Security Force in Gaza.
Azerbaijan’s human rights record also calls into question its credibility as a stabilizing force. In 2020, Azerbaijan launched a military assault against the indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), engaging in a pattern of serious human rights abuses including extrajudicial killings of civilians and prisoners of war, the arbitrary detention and abuse of prisoners of war and civilian captives, and unlawful attacks on civilian property including homes, schools, medical facilities and religious sites, including the use of prohibited weapons. And in 2023, Azerbaijan imposed a humanitarian blockade against the Armenian population of Artsakh, depriving the region’s 150,000 civilians access to food, fuel, medicine and other essential goods for 10 months – before launching a military assault that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of the Artsakh’s entire Armenian population. To this day, Azerbaijan continues to unlawfully detain and abuse Armenian civilians and political leaders from Artsakh, engages in the widespread destruction and desecration of Armenian cultural heritage and civilian property, and continues to occupy sovereign Armenian territory following border incursions in 2022 during which Azerbaijani forces perpetrated war crimes including the summary execution of unarmed Armenian soldiers.
As such, we urge the international community including the United States to reject any role for the Azerbaijani military in the conceived International Security Force for Gaza. Azerbaijan’s egregious human rights record and recent ethnic cleansing of Artsakh – in addition to its growing dependence on Israeli military technology and Israel’s reliance on Azerbaijani energy – make it uniquely unsuited for any peacekeeping or stabilizing role in the Palestinian territories.
Led by A New Policy and Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
Additional Signatories:
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action)
Churches for Middle East Peace
CODEPINK
DAWN
Disability Justice for Palestine
International Association of Genocide Scholars
Just Foreign Policy
Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention & Human Security
Migrant Roots Media
National Iranian American Council
Palestinian Christians for Justice
Progressive Democrats of America – Greater Middle East Alliances
USCPR Action
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section (WILPF US)
YUSRA Action
