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

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure 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 militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.