No clear legal framework for stabilisation force - UAE

Plans for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force charged with disarming Hamas inside Gaza face growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates said it would not participate because it did not yet see a clear legal framework for the force.

- Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

Israel has already ruled out Turkey joining the force, and King Abdullah of Jordan has said Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey last week and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

The UAE’s decision, announced by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel has left the territory.

Gargash said: “The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force, and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace - and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.”

The Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force.

International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there is explicit Palestinian consent, otherwise the force would be seen as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.