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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are facing increasing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The proposed American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a level or speed it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

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

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.