🔗 Share this article

Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing growing opposition after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a potential participant, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

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 border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into 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 conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. No details is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.