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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, 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.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to giving the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives remain unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.