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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the ground. 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.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The draft American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing 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 mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant perspective, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Political 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 a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern 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 Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Only the remains of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.