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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen 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 in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” 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 exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

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 reserve the authority to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to review developments on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive later the same day.

Just the remains of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.