Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.
Israel have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.
The UAE lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.
The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.
Arab states would prefer greater duties to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.
Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”
The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.
In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.
The US is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.
The proposed American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.
The force, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.
Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.
They also fear the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.
This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.
However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of aid.
French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.
The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the authority's function.
Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.
Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.
The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the same day.
Just the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of captives remain unreturned.
Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.
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