🔗 Share this article

Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing International Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would like greater duties to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a task 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 Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.