🔗 Share this article

Plans for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have already excluded Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater duties to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to end the presence within the framework 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 outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed US resolution outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, 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 phrase leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.