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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the UAE stated it would not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force 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 operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

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

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance role in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full relief in the territory, 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 board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, 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 Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial 251 captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.