🔗 Share this article

Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the UAE stated it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati 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 already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, began officially on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has previously effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to giving the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, 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 president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to return to the territory if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory 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 no part of the former US administration's proposal.