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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already circulated 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onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, 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 Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to review the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.