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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing increasing opposition after the UAE stated it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

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

Regional Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would like greater duties to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a governance role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the truce and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the original 251 captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.