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Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded responsibilities to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be seen as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the framework 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 prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led 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 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 local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

International Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight role over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives remain unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.