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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

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

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated 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 Paris on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of captives are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.