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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have already excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined goal to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is 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.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed US resolution outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.