Sean Mathews
Middle East Eye / July 17, 2024
Senior Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh said ‘temporary international presence’ in Gaza could be deployed at invitation of Palestinian Authority.
The UAE has backed deploying an international force to provide “law and order” in the besieged Gaza Strip under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, the clearest sign yet that Gulf powers are inching closer to an agreement for a post-war force in Gaza that the US has been lobbying for.
Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s former ambassador to the United Nations, now an assistant Minister for Political Affairs in the UAE, called for a “temporary international presence in Gaza” in an opinion article published in The Financial Times.
Nusseibeh called for “a temporary international mission 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”.
The US is working to craft a plan for post-war Gaza security that would see a US-backed mission led out of Cairo, Egypt. Last month, Middle East Eye reported that the US was weighing plans to shift the Palestinian Authority’s security forces into CENTCOM’s area of responsibility. Israel was placed under Centcom’s area of responsibility in 2021.
A senior US defence official told MEE that Bahrain told the US it would be willing to deploy peacekeepers to the Gaza Strip. Manama’s police and security forces are staffed by many Pakistanis and Jordanians of Palestinian descent.
The UAE is an absolute monarchy that brokers no public dissent. Although Nusseibeh did not attribute her statement to the foreign ministry, it would be highly unusual for a senior Emirati diplomat to call for a policy out of step with the UAE’s leadership.
Nusseibeh’s call is likely to roil Hamas, the Palestinian group which has governed the besieged Gaza Strip since 2007.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian groups launched an attack on southern Israel where 1,200 people were killed and over 240 were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel’s offensive on Gaza has killed at least 38,794 Palestinians, mostly women and children, has reduced most of the enclave to rubble and the area has descended into lawlessness.
Hamas and Israel are in stalled ceasefire talks where the group says it will oppose any international force in the Gaza Strip and ruled out disarming its fighters.
Lana Nusseibeh: UAE diplomat with Palestinian roots
The decision for Nusseibeh to weigh in on an international force appears to be a strategic decision by the UAE.
Nusseibeh stepped down from representing the UAE at the UN in April.
During her tenure, she vigorously defended Abu Dhabi’s positions in conflicts ranging from Libya to Yemen and emerged as a powerful spokesperson for the UAE in US media. She enjoyed good ties with the UAE’s powerful ambassador to the US, Yousef al-Otaiba, an Arab official told MEE.
She has also worked closely with the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, and her UN office was staffed with some Palestinian citizens working on behalf of the UAE.
Nusseibeh is herself of Palestinian descent and hails from a prominent family in Jerusalem.
Her grandfather served in the Jordanian government when East Jerusalem was part of the Hashemite Kingdom, and her father, Zaki Nusseibeh, was a close advisor to Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, founder of the UAE.
Call for new PA president
Nusseibeh did not name Hamas in her opinion article, but said “a temporary international presence in Gaza can only result from a formal invitation from the Palestinian Authority”.
She also called for a new Palestinian prime minister who is “empowered, credible and independent” to “tackle the reforms that are necessary to improve governance for all Palestinians and capable of taking on the responsibility of rebuilding Gaza”.
Mahmoud Abbas, the 88-year-old president of the Palestinian Authority, appointed Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister in March, in a move analysts said was a nod to US and Gulf calls for reform.
Nusseibeh’s call for a new prime minister follows reports that Abu Dhabi does not believe the PA is seriously pursuing reforms.
In April, Axios reported that a meeting between Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Hussein al-Sheikh, a deputy to President Abbas, descended into a shouting match, with the Emirati official calling the Palestinian leadership “Ali Baba and the 40 thieves.”
Nusseibeh’s article is also notable because she did not say that an international mission would require a UN Security Council mandate. The Arab League supported the deployment of an international force backed by the UN to the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank in May.
Nusseibeh also said an international force would not bring stability to Gaza unless Israel lifts its yearlong blockade of the Gaza Strip and ends settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, steps that are likely non-starters with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Sean Mathews is a journalist for Middle East Eye writing about business, security and politics
