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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Continuing Discussions and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started formally on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

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

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Only the remains of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.