UAE Declines to Participate in Gazan Stabilisation Force Lacking Defined Legal Framework

Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the original 251 captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.