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

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

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed 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places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded responsibilities to be given to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

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

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into granting the mission a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the council barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it demands.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the original hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.