United Arab Emirates Refuses to Join Gaza Security Mission Without Clear Juridical Structure

Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have already excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel involved on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the stabilisation force a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight role over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Developments

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.