UAE Refuses to Join Gaza Stabilisation Force Lacking Defined Juridical Structure

Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The draft American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the satisfaction 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 UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Regional Developments

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.