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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework 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 prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the terrain. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a governance role in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of aid.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to review the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the same day.

Just the remains of four of the original hundreds of captives remain unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.