🔗 Share this article UAE Declines to Join Gaza Stabilisation Mission Lacking Clear Legal Framework Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure. Growing Global Reservations Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, once considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a complete truce was in place. The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts. Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues The Emirati decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have left the territory. Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation. Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request 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 occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes. Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions. The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel. Force Mandate and Administrative Function The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”. The force, reporting to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives. Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence. They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government. Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations. Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance. Global Diplomatic Initiatives French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement. The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function. Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility. Israeli Demands and Regional Developments Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires. The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the same day. Only the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned. Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.