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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started 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 command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.