US seeks UN mandate for Gaza international force

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The United States is aiming at obtaining the UN mandate for the temporary international stabilisation force in Gaza, Axios reported, as the top Muslim states made it clear a day earlier that any contribution to the planned deployment depended upon a definition and “legitimacy” to the mission.

On the other hand, the security force will be an “enforcement force and not a peacekeeping force”, involving troops from several countries and established in consultation with the Gaza “Board of Peace” which is supposed remain in place at least through the end of 2027.

Read more: UN mandate for Gaza stabilisation force still in works: Turkiye

For this purpose, the US, according to the Axios, circulated a draft resolution to the UN Security Council members, calling for the creation of an international security force with a mandate lasting at least two years under the Gaza peace plan.

The draft resolution is going to give the US and other countries participating in the temporary international stabilisation force a broad mandate to govern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the draft resolution will be the basis for negotiations over the coming days with the goal of voting in the coming weeks as the US wants to deploy the first troops in Gaza by January.

As far the working of the proposed security force is concerned being not a peace keeping force, it would be tasked with securing Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt, protecting civilians and humanitarian corridors and training a new Palestinian police force, with which it is to partner in the mission.

DISARMING HAMAS

Under the Gaza peace plan, Hamas doesn’t have any role in future. It calls for disarming the Palestinian group. Hamas is ready for it and has even vowed to revitalise the Palestinian Authority.

Read more: Hamas, other groups agree to hand Gaza to technocrat committee

And the US draft also touches this subject while discussing the security force’s role.

So, the temporary temporary international stabilisation force would also “stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip”.

The steps it would take include “the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.”