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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document already distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a administrative function in the territory, 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 “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored 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 regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Local Developments

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.