United Arab Emirates Refuses to Participate in Gazan Stabilisation Force Without Defined Juridical Structure

Plans for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian 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 unlawful presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” 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 improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, 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 UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.