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Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism 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 provisions of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have left the territory.

Arab states would like expanded responsibilities 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; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will work 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 occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The draft American document outlines the aim 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 blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a reference 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 a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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 UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it requires.

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

Just the remains of a small number of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.