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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have already excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus 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 expanded responsibilities to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will only 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 the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Not the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’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 Witkoff was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.