United Arab Emirates Refuses to Participate in Gaza Security Force Without Clear Legal Framework

Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not join. 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 in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed document previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing 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 international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence 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 sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The draft US resolution outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point mostly ignored 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 Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to the territory if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial 251 captives remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.