United Arab Emirates Refuses to Participate in Gazan Stabilisation Force Lacking Defined Legal Framework

Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have left the territory.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.