UAE Declines to Participate in Gaza Stabilisation Mission Lacking Defined Legal Framework

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

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be given to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into granting the mission a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the same day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.