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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document already circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like greater duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

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

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state 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 stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

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

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.