UAE Refuses to Participate in Gaza Stabilisation Force Without Defined Legal Framework

Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

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

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the same day.

Just the remains of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.