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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing International Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stability mission and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the terrain. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional 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 return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive later the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. International officials insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.