Perspective 132. UN Peacekeepers in Gaza: Doomed to Fail?

The previous Perspective made a strong case for a UN or other international force to oversee the transition of Gaza – and the West Bank – to independence and peace with Israel. This has been challenged on grounds that U.N. peacekeeping has a lousy record. So is reliance on a UN force a bad idea?

No. UN peacekeeping operations have actually worked fairly well – when backed by mainstream leadership on both sides.

In perspective, there have been 72 UN peacekeeping operations since 1948, as well as a few other international operations under other auspices. Seventeen of these operations are still current, including seven in the Middle East. Some were observer missions to supervise agreements ending conflicts, others included military forces (contributed by member states) to actually enforce such agreements, end civil wars, separate warring parties, or guarantee the emergence of newly independent states. Most achieved the immediate goal for which they were created.

The first mission, as it happens, was in the Arab-Israel context. The United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization was created in 1948 to oversee ceasefires and armistices, and still serves that purpose. The first peacekeeping operation with military forces was the United Nations Emergency Force interposed between Egypt and Israel in. 1956. Unhappily, the withdrawal of this force helped bring about the 1967 war.

Currently two of Israel’s borders, with Lebanon and with Syria, are also patrolled by UN forces. The peace with Egypt is kept by another body, the Multinational Force and Observers, to which 13 nations contribute troops. (This was not done under the UN flag because of a Soviet veto.). Elsewhere in the Middle East, peace between Iraq and Iran, and later between Iraq and a restored independent Kuwait, was in both cases reinforced by UN missions.

UN peacekeeping bodies also played an important role in stabilizing nations emerging from civil wars or conflict: Angola, Mozambique, and five nations of Central America. Peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea was also guaranteed by a UN presence.

Of special relevance to the Palestinian case, many UN missions have been sent in support of states emerging into independence: Namibia, East Timor, and Kosovo. Peace between Greek and Turkish Cyprus has also been reinforced by a UN force since 1964. UN forces also facilitated the independence of South Sudan, though they were not as effective in dealing with civil war within the new nation.

In Cambodia, UN peacekeepers took control, organized elections, and oversaw the emergence of a new government. A similar process in Gaza and the West Bank would not be an innovation.

A study by the RAND Corporation concluded that UN peacekeeping was successful in about two thirds of the missions attempted. Other studies have generally confirmed this, while finding the best predictor of success was support by the dominant political forces in both sides.

The implications for Israel and the Palestinians are not hard to identify. First they need to get their own houses in order, and then international support could play a huge role.