UAE signals willingness to join postwar Gaza peacekeeping force
Senior Emirati official says Abu Dhabi could participate on condition that it’s invited by a reformed PA, that initiative is US-led and that it is part of broader two-state effort
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
A senior Emirati official signaled this week that Abu Dhabi is prepared to contribute troops to a postwar peacekeeping force in Gaza, making the United Arab Emirates the first Arab country to publicly buy into the effort being quietly advanced by the Biden administration.
Lana Nusseibeh, who serves as special envoy of UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, penned an op-ed in the Financial Times in which she called for the establishment of a “temporary international mission” in Gaza “that responds to the humanitarian crisis, establishes law and order, lays the groundwork for governance and paves the way to reuniting Gaza and the occupied West Bank under a single, legitimate Palestinian Authority.”
The United States has been looking to recruit countries for the effort, as it seeks to re-install the PA as the ruling authority in Gaza while recognizing that Ramallah needs time to reform and that a temporary security and governing force will be necessary to help fill the vacuum so that Hamas does not regain control.
But the Biden administration has had a hard time convincing Arab allies to come on board, as a key condition of theirs has been that the temporary peacekeeping force be part of a process leading to an eventual two-state solution — a framework Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to block.
Accordingly, Arab states have been reluctant to publicly express willingness to take part in the initiative, not wanting to be seen as betraying the Palestinian people.
Privately, though, the US has made some progress in getting countries on board. Last month, The Times of Israel revealed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had recently been informing allies that the UAE and Egypt had agreed to take part in the initiative.
Nusseibeh all but confirmed as much in an interview with FT published alongside her op-ed in which she said, “The UAE could consider being part of the stabilization forces alongside Arab and international partners… at the invitation of a reformed Palestinian Authority, or a PA led by an empowered prime minister.”
It was unclear whether Nusseibeh was referring to Mohammad Mustafa, who was appointed PA prime minister in March.
Arab and US officials have told The Times of Israel that Mustafa wasn’t Abu Dhabi’s preferred choice for the job, as they see his longtime ties to PA President Mahmoud Abbas as preventing him from acting independently in order to enact necessary reforms.
“For us, what it would take [to participate in the mission] is US leadership, a reformed PA leadership and a road map toward reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a single Palestinian government,” Nusseibeh told FT. “We [also] would need to see a clear articulation, a signal or a commitment to Palestinian statehood through negotiations.”
“Israel, as the occupying power, must also do its part for such an effort to succeed. Gaza cannot recover if it continues to live under a blockade. Neither can it be rebuilt if the legitimate PA is not allowed to take on its responsibilities. No effort will succeed if settlement construction, violence and incitement to violence continue to rise in the occupied West Bank,” she wrote in the separate op-ed.
Nusseibeh clarified that the stabilization force envisioned by the UAE would not “replace the UN or the work of its agencies on the ground,” suggesting that Abu Dhabi wants the UNRWA agency for Palestinian refugees to continue operating in Gaza. Israel has sought to end the agency’s activity in Gaza, arguing that it has been entirely compromised by the Hamas terror group.
The alternative to the stabilization mission would be “to do more of the same, and that will only lead to more violence, radicalism and suffering for both Palestinians and Israelis,” the UAE envoy added.
Blinken has told counterparts in the Mideast that the US would help establish and train the security force and ensure that it would have a temporary mandate, so that it could eventually be replaced by a fully Palestinian body, officials told The Times of Israel last month, adding that the goal is for the PA to eventually fully take over Gaza.
The secretary clarified, though, that the US would not be contributing troops of its own, the officials said.
During a June 12 press conference in Doha, Blinken said the US and its partners would soon release its plans for the postwar management of Gaza. “In the coming weeks, we will put forward proposals for key elements of the day-after — planning that includes concrete ideas for how to manage governance, security, reconstruction.”
The officials speaking to The Times of Israel said the US is working on three concept notes on each of those issues, adding that Washington is hoping that Saudi Arabia will lead reconstruction efforts.
As for governance, Blinken privately told counterparts that the goal would be to establish a transitional government in Gaza, which would work closely with countries in the region, the officials said.
Blinken has held talks for months with a contact group of counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt and the PA. He has also looped in Morocco, Bahrain, Turkey, Indonesia and others in an effort to galvanize broad international support for the postwar stabilization of Gaza.
