UAE Declines to Join Gaza Stabilisation Mission Lacking Clear Juridical Structure

Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local 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 unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive later the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.