UAE Declines to Participate in Gazan Security Force Lacking Clear Legal Framework

Plans for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential participant, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started officially on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence 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 involved on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, 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 lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence 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, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.