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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to end the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

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 Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

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

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives 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 a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the draft text. 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 taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter the territory if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of captives remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.