UAE Refuses to Join Gazan Stabilisation Mission Lacking Clear Legal Framework

Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory session in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously distributed to delegates 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 the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would like greater responsibilities to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude 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 two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command 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 the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the initial 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.