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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, 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 independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the original 251 captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.