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Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE stated it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document already circulated 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an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

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

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the process of disarming the territory including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials 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, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive later the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial 251 captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.