Proposals for an multinational security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the UAE announced it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.
Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.
Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution â and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.
The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.
Arab states would prefer expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.
A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: âIt is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to end the occupation within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.â
There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.
In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy â risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.
The United States is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.
The draft US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as âalong with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groupsâ.
The force, answerable to a âpeace councilâ chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use âany required actionsâ to achieve its objectives.
Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.
They also fear the proposed authority extends to giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.
This âtransitional governance administrationâ in Gaza would stay until âthe local government has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoPâ, the draft says. It also âemphasizes the importanceâ of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.
However, it opens the door the exclusion of âany group determined to have misused such assistanceâ. The phrase leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.
France and Saudi Arabia are already 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 White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.
The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the PA role.
Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.
Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.
The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the that day.
Only the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.
Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.
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