France, UK refine plans for UN resolution on future international force in Gaza
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Planning has begun for an international force to stabilise security in the Palestinian enclave, said two senior US advisers.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS/NEW YORK - France and Britain, in coordination with the United States, are working to finalise a UN Security Council resolution in the coming days that would lay the foundation for a future international force in Gaza, said France on Oct 16.
With a shaky US-mediated ceasefire
Speaking to reporters in Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said such a force needed a UN mandate to provide a strong foundation in international law and ease the process of getting potential contributions from countries.
“France is working closely with its partners on the establishment of such an international mission, which must be formalised through the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution,” he said.
“Discussions, notably with the Americans and British, are ongoing to propose this resolution in the coming days.”
US President Donald Trump’s administration is speaking with many countries interested in contributing to the force, a White House official said on Oct 16.
“We are also in conversations about a potential UN Security Council resolution to support this effort,” the official added.
Paris hosted talks with other European and Arab powers on Oct 10 to flesh out ideas for Gaza’s post-war transition, including how an international force could take shape.
Diplomats said the stabilisation force would not be a formal UN peacekeeping force paid for by the world body.
Instead, a Security Council resolution could mirror action taken by the 15-member body to back the deployment of an international force to combat armed gangs in Haiti.
That resolution spells out and authorises the mission and states contributing to the force to “take all necessary measures” – code for the use of force – to carry out the mandate.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament on Oct 14: “The stabilisation force will take some time.
“The terms of reference are still being drawn up. There is a United Nations Security Council resolution on the establishment of the force, or I hope there will be, but the wider terms of reference are not yet agreed.”
Among the countries the US is speaking to about contributing to the force are Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar and Azerbaijan, the advisers said on condition of anonymity.
There are also currently up to two dozen US troops in the region to help set up the operation, serving in a “coordination, oversight” role, they said.
Italy has publicly said it was willing to take part.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto told the UN General Assembly on Sept 23 that if there was a UN resolution, Indonesia was prepared to deploy 20,000 or more troops
The 193-member UN General Assembly in September overwhelmingly voted to endorse a declaration that aimed to advance a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, which supports the deployment of a temporary international stabilisation mission mandated by the UN Security Council. REUTERS
