United Arab Emirates Declines to Participate in Gazan Security Mission Lacking Defined Juridical Structure

Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission 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 end the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

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

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.