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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 UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would like greater duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning 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 required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

International Political Efforts

French officials 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 US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review developments on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

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

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.