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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to review the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.