United Arab Emirates Refuses to Participate in Gaza Stabilisation Mission Lacking Clear Legal Framework

Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

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

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented 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 this week to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of four of the original hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

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