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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are facing growing opposition after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing International Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

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

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned 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 perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to giving the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

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 reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to review the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Just the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.