UAE Refuses to Join Gazan Security Mission Without Clear Juridical Structure

Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stability mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase permits the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory function over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear later the same day.

Just the remains of four of the initial 251 captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.