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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a potential participant, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context 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 two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight function over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.