United Arab Emirates Declines to Participate in Gazan Stabilisation Mission Lacking Defined Juridical Structure

Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer greater duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.