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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the presence within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

Detailed talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

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 the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

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