🔗 Share this article

Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

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 presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the force although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The proposed American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter the territory if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a level 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 the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.