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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 increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

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 Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could yet be divided in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.