United Arab Emirates Refuses to Join Gaza Stabilisation Force Lacking Defined Legal Framework

Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, 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.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The proposed American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, 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 viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing 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 Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to appear later the same day.

Just the remains of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.