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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms 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responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the mission authority, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft US resolution outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

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

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

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

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state 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 stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the remains of four of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.