Why a protective force for Gaza could be a dangerous idea

The thought of deploying a protective oregon peacekeeping unit successful Palestine is thing new. After Israel was established done the horrendous massacres and wide taste cleansing of 1948, the United Nations acceptable up its Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to observe the implementation of the 1949 Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements. In 1974, it sent the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to enactment the ceasefire betwixt Israel and Syria, and successful 1978, the UN Interim Force successful Lebanon (UNIFIL) was deployed connected Lebanese territory. None of these forces was capable to halt Israeli aggression.

After the Israeli reinvasion of the occupied West Bank and the massacre successful Jenin successful 2002, erstwhile United States President Bill Clinton reawakened the thought of an planetary unit successful the occupied Palestinian territory.

With the outbreak of the genocide successful Gaza successful October 2023, this connection started getting diplomatic traction again. In May 2024, the Arab League called for a peacekeeping unit for the occupied Palestinian territory. The likes of the Atlantic Council supported the idea, and truthful did assorted Western officials, including Germany’s genocidal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

In July this year, a high-level league led by France and Saudi Arabia besides suggested an “international stabilisation mission” successful Gaza, premised connected an invitation by the Palestinian Authority. The thought was refloated pursuing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s (IPC) much-belated proclamation of famine successful Gaza.

Undoubtedly, specified an intervention, equipped oregon unarmed, would not lone beryllium ineligible nether planetary instrumentality but would besides beryllium a mode to comply with the planetary ineligible rule of work to protect. The cardinal question, however, is: How would specified a extortion unit enactment successful existent life?

Looking astatine the geopolitical reality, it is hard to ideate it could enactment without Israeli agreement. Israel enjoys full, unconditional enactment from the US and acts with impunity. It has already demonstrated that it would enactment aggressively against immoderate effort to interruption the siege connected Gaza; it has gone arsenic acold arsenic breaching European Union airspace to onslaught a Gaza-bound humanitarian vessel. Any extortion unit attempting to participate Palestine without Israeli statement would beryllium attacked earlier it could get adjacent close.

Therefore, the lone enactment is for Israel and the US to hold to it. That is possible, but it would instrumentality spot nether their conditions, which would astir apt pb to the internationalisation and normalisation of the genocide.

The archetypal measurement successful that absorption has already been taken with the deployment of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) astatine the extremity of May. Since then, Israel and GHF mercenaries person killed astatine slightest 2,416 Palestinians seeking assistance and injured much than 17,700.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner wide of UNRWA, has called it “an abomination” and “a decease trap costing much lives than it saves”. UN experts person denounced “the entanglement of Israeli intelligence, US contractors and ambiguous nongovernmental entities”. The UN exigency assistance coordination body, OCHA, has denounced the GHF’s operations arsenic a unsafe and “deliberate effort to weaponise aid”.

The caller revelations by The Washington Post that US President Donald Trump’s program to alteration Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” is inactive connected the array springiness an denotation of however the extortion unit could go a reality.

The plan, called Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation (GREAT), would spot a overseas unit deployed arsenic portion of the 10-year US-sponsored trusteeship implicit the Gaza Strip. The contingent would beryllium formed by backstage contractors hired by the GHF, portion the Israeli service would beryllium liable for “overall security”.  This would efficaciously mean the continuation of the genocide and taste cleansing of Palestinians nether the supervision of overseas mercenaries.

This is surely not the benignant of protective unit that pro-Palestinian proponents of the thought would similar to see, but it is the lone 1 realistically imaginable arsenic of now.

We are each longing for the genocide to halt and for Palestinians to beryllium protected from Israeli aggression until its authorities of apartheid, taste cleansing, and amerciable concern ends. A protective unit should person been deployed a agelong clip agone – erstwhile the Zionist question archetypal started its genocidal task successful Palestine successful 1947.

Today, promoting the thought of a protective unit not lone opens the mode for the realisation of the Trump plan, but besides distracts from the astir strategical and impactful signifier of intervention: ending planetary complicity and imposing sanctions connected Israel. This is what is imaginable and real. This is what states consenting to support Palestinians and support our rights and planetary instrumentality indispensable bash and tin do, without depending connected immoderate different actor.

Twenty years ago, we started the telephone for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and the way towards sanctions. Now we are connected the verge of seeing the sanctions go existent and impactful.

Last year, the UN General Assembly passed a solution committing subordinate states to partial sanctions connected Israel. If we tin instrumentality it, this volition efficaciously undercut Israel’s capableness to proceed to provender its genocide machine.

Meanwhile, the BDS enactment is taking effect. We are starting to beryllium capable to interfere with the proviso concatenation of the genocide. We person stopped immoderate alloy shipments and subject supplies from reaching Israeli buyers.

In August, Colombian President Gustavo Petro issued a 2nd decree banning ember exports to Israel. Shortly after, Turkiye announced a implicit halt to each commercialized ties and the closure of its seaports and airspace to Israeli vessels and aircraft; the state utilized to beryllium Israel’s fifth-largest import partner.

Israeli businessmen are admitting to section media that “a world of a quiescent boycott of Israel successful the tract of imports has been taking signifier from suppliers successful Europe, and particularly from neighbouring countries specified arsenic Jordan and Egypt”.

Should South Africa, Brazil, and Nigeria halt supplying vigor to substance Israel, this would person a immense short-term impact. China could halt its companies from operating the larboard of Haifa. The Global South has the powerfulness unsocial to halt the planetary proviso concatenation of genocide by blocking the continuous travel of earthy materials and components.

Even successful Europe, immoderate ties of complicity are starting to get loose. In the Netherlands, 5 ministers, including the overseas curate and the lawman premier minister, resigned aft the furniture was not capable to hold connected sanctions against Israel, plunging the authorities into crisis. Slovenia and Spain person announced arms embargoes. Workers’ mobilisations successful ports crossed the Mediterranean and beyond person made maritime transfers of subject materiel to Israel ever much difficult.

Popular unit is mounting connected governments to conscionable their ineligible and motivation obligations and enforce sanctions connected Israel. This is not the clip to propulsion for intolerable oregon insidious projects that could springiness them an excuse not to act.

We each saw however genocidal Israel shredded the Oslo plans for a two-state solution to pieces. Those accords were ne'er much than an effort to marque Europe, successful particular, consciousness amended astir its relation successful our dispossession.

Let america not autumn into the aforesaid trap again by supporting initiatives that would lone marque the satellite consciousness amended astir Israel’s genocide. Concrete unit and sanctions stay the astir effectual measures astatine manus that the US-Israel axis cannot manipulate arsenic much.

Let america fortify factual planetary multilateral initiatives successful enactment of Palestine and planetary law, specified arsenic The Hague Group. Let america unit states to instrumentality sanctions and chopped disconnected the proviso concatenation for the genocide.

The unit indispensable beryllium sustained until apartheid and settler colonialism are dismantled betwixt the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the authors’ ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.