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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials 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, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the mission a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

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 Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

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

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.