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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be sent 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 whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the presence within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

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 Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Political Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.