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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the UAE announced it would not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear 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 relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document already 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on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains 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 opposes.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the terrain. It has already effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. 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 reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight function over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the original hundreds of captives are still unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.