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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing International Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible participant, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror 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 United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment 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 function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference 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 said that a reference 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 Monday to review the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.