Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev announced Monday that his country will not send troops to the proposed peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip.
“I am not considering participation in hostilities outside Azerbaijan at all," Aliyev said. “When we were in trouble, we were left to our fate. No one protected us. With all due respect and sympathy for Palestine, it did not protect us in particular.”
Aliyev emphasized Azerbaijan’s longstanding support for the Palestinians, including backing the establishment of a Palestinian state at the United Nations and in various international organizations. “The Embassy of Palestine operates in Azerbaijan with Azerbaijani financial support,” he said, adding, “I have always said that Arab state issues should be resolved by the Arab states themselves.”
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Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev announced that he will not send troops to the proposed peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip
(Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The president also said he had been in contact with the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump regarding the peacekeeping force. “We prepared a questionnaire of more than 20 questions and provided it to the American side. No participation in peacekeeping forces is envisaged,” Aliyev stated.
In November, an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official told Reuters that Baku would not send troops to the Trump‑led international “stabilization force” in Gaza unless there was a complete ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “We do not want to endanger our forces,” the official said, adding that any such decision would first require parliamentary approval in Baku.
Azerbaijan is a longtime ally of both Israel and Turkey. Aliyev oversaw the opening of Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tel Aviv in March 2023 and has maintained support for Israel even after the outbreak of the Gaza war, despite Azerbaijan being a predominantly Shia Muslim country. Unlike in many other parts of the world, there have been no anti‑Israel protests in Baku over the fighting in Gaza, and many have publicly expressed solidarity with Israel.
Azerbaijan has also resisted pressure to cut economic ties with Jerusalem and chose not to halt fuel supplies, increasing deliveries to cover half of Israel’s consumption.