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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as imposed under international statutes, 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 critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth 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 – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a administrative function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.