On Wednesday, 5 November, the US presented a draft resolution to the UNSC to further establish the US-led peace plan.  A mandate from the Security Council is needed before deploying the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) into Gaza. US Ambassador Mike Waltz submitted the draft to the 10 elected members of Security Council: representatives from Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia. To show support from regional partners, Egypt, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have approved the text. The resolution needs at least nine votes with no vetoes by Russia, China, the US, the UK or France. Negotiations within the UNSC started on Thursday, 6 November.

This draft would authorise the ISF and Board of Peace, which will act as the transitional administration and also as supervisor to the Palestinian Technocratic Committee. The Board of Peace responsibilities include the establishment of the ISF and to oversee reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. The draft states that the Board of Peace and the ISF would last for at least two years.

It is unclear whether there will be any consent from Palestinians for the draft to be accepted, particularly necessary as forces will be deployed in Palestinian territory. Without consent, the establishment of an international administration and the deployment and authorisation of force in Gaza would be coercive. This raises questions as to whether Chapter VII of the UN Charter will be invoked. To trigger Chapter VII, the Council must determine that a situation is a threat to international peace and security. The draft uses different language, stating “the situation in the Gaza Strip threatens the regional peace and the security of neighbouring states”.

As per the draft, the ISF would be required to cooperate with Israel and Egypt to secure the Gaza border, to protect civilians and humanitarian aid operations, and to train the Palestinian police force. A senior US official has stated the UN resolution will give the ISF the authority to disarm Hamas. Regarding the international make-up of the ISF, participants are still in talks, but it is likely to consist of 20,000 troops.

According to an article published by Reuters, the draft states that the ISF in Gaza could “use all necessary measures”, implying the mandate will allow the use of force.

• Main image featured above credit: Jdforrester, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons