United Arab Emirates Declines to Join Gaza Security Mission Lacking Defined Legal Framework

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

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

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

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence 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 a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

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

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the board of peace barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial 251 captives are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.