United Arab Emirates Refuses to Participate in Gaza Security Force Lacking Defined Juridical Structure

Proposals for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive later the same day.

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

Independently, 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 strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.