🔗 Share this article

Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a administrative role in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a supervisory function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.