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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many personnel involved on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into granting the mission a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to return to the territory if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level 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. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.