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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would like expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

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

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft American document defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The request 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 Jerusalem on Monday to review developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.