🔗 Share this article

Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development 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 troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

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

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.