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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

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

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a governance role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added 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 stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the original hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.