Accessing the Potential: Towards a UNPROFOR in Gaza
Image credit; Ya Libnan news
It has been a month since
Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN put forward the suggestion for
an International Protection Force for Gaza[i].
The intervention was called due to the current threat of famine that waits for 576,000 people in Gaza. This demand is not novel and there
has been special intervention in the past to protect civilians. This begs for a review of the UN's crucial experience during the
Yugoslavia war, when it founded the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)
in former Yugoslavia in the context of Gaza.
UNPROFOR was sent in Former Yugoslavia primarily to monitor
ceasefires, provide humanitarian relief, and protect people during the
conflict. The force had added rights to monitor the "no-fly" zone
that prohibited all the military aircraft in United
Nations Protected Areas (UNAPs), within Bosnia and Herzegovina, authorization to use
force in self-defense and coordinate air power deployment for NATO operations[ii]. Given the unprecedent
killing and bombing of civilians including children it is important to ask why
there is no formal proposition for an UNPROFOR in Gaza when this same
initiative was successful during the Yugoslavia war.
Firstly, it will
be right to say that establishment of UNPROFOR emerged from the political
willingness of the countries to stop the war. Most importantly there was a
willingness from the Five veto powers within security council. United Stated on
the other hand vetoed all the ceasefire resolution since October 2023 only
until recently which Israel has ignored and rather increased its intensive in
Gaza[iii]. This clearly points
towards structural deformity within UN, which is still in Cold War Era.
The undergoing
conflict in Gaza has same ethnic, socio-political, and religious dimension as
Yugoslavia conflict but in addition to it there is also the global trade
dimension that supports the ongoing conflict. The Washington’s Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme provides grants totaling
around $3.3 billion per year to Israel, which it must utilizes to
acquire US military equipment and services[iv].
Consider the trade it is highly unlikely that US will contribute towards the
special protection for Gaza which has no such deal with the US.
Furthermore,
during the Yugoslavia war the major contributors to the UNPROFOR were United
States, Russia (then part of the Soviet Union), France, the United Kingdom, and
China, among others. Considering
the current blatant disregard for the UN ceasefire resolution and killing of UN
staff by Israel within Gaza will only put UN forces at risk, considering the
nature of conflict.
While UNPROFOR deployment is different from the regular
peacekeeping operations it is still part of border UN peacekeeping operations
and undergoes same process as any other mandate that is passed by Security
Council. This will require immense pressure from the global community to ensure
that such resolution is not vetoed out by US. Further, Considering the low contribution
of Military Personnels by the Arab nations to the current peacekeeping troops,
the demand for an International Protection Force losses its credibility.
When one looks at the contribution towards the peacekeeping forces
Arab countries have the almost no contribution towards it, in terms of troops.
Meanwhile South Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey has
contributed significantly[v].
As for Pakistan who is ranked 6th in its contribution to the
peacekeeping forces, is less likely to go against US blatantly, as it is
dependent on US for foreign aid to ensure its own stability. While Malaysia,
Bangladesh and Indonesia neither have the economic or geostrategic advantage to
take up special protection mission in Gaza. Nevertheless, considering the support
from other veto powers UNPROFOR is still possible and as a matter of fact only
feasible option.
To summarise, while the construction of a UNPROFOR Gaza is
theoretically viable, it requires overcoming political difficulties, guaranteeing
real global backing, and addressing the lack of Arab nation involvement in
order to be practical.
[i] DAWN. (2024, March 2). United Nations: Establish International Protection Force in Gaza. DAWN. https://dawnmena.org/united-nations-establish-international-protection-force-in-gaza/
[ii] Department of Public Information, UN. (1996). Former Yugoslavia—UNPROFOR. Https://Peacekeeping.Un.Org/Mission/Past/Unprof_p.Htm. https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unprof_p.htm
[iii] UN Security Council demands ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza, ending months-long deadlock | UN News. (2024, March 25). https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147951
[iv] U.S. Aid to Israel in Four Charts. (n.d.). Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved March 31, 2024, from https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
[v] United
Nations. (2021). Uniformed Personnel Contributing Countries by Ranking. https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/02_country_ranking_40_july2021.pdf
Comments
Post a Comment