🔗 Share this article

Proposals for an international security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the UAE announced it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israel have left the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started formally on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.