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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure 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 required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority 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 full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original 251 captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.