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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible participant, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The draft US resolution outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention 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 UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the stabilisation force a administrative function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included 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 reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, 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 UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely 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 Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.