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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

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 “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

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

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay 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 “emphasizes the importance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

International Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly borne 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 follow the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Only the remains of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.