United Arab Emirates Refuses to Join Gaza Security Force Lacking Clear Legal Framework

Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” 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 Qatar are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Only the remains of four of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.