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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission 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 goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the mission authority, including its command and control, began officially on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The draft American document defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

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

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.