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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater duties to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its command and control, began formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into granting the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

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