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Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have already excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a potential participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

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

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added 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 reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive later the that day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial 251 captives remain unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.