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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it would not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have left the region.

Regional governments would like greater duties to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Not 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 overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.