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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

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 terminate it. The force will work 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 conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original 251 captives are still unreturned.

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