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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The force 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 occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.