UAE Declines to Participate in Gaza Stabilisation Mission Without Defined Juridical Structure

Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains 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.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the truce and the envoy was due to appear later the same day.

Only the remains of four of the initial 251 captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.