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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

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

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

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

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial 251 captives remain not recovered.

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