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 Gaza are facing growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already 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an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added 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 reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

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 this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.