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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, 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 West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the ground. It has already in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the end of occupation.

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

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state 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 reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

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