🔗 Share this article

Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would like greater duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started officially on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a governance role in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state 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 a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference 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 review the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was due to appear later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original hundreds of captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.