🔗 Share this article

Plans for an international security mission mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.