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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

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

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led 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 concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, 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 administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding 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 board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” 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 leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan 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 discuss the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.