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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Continuing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve 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 solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into granting the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Not the UN nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Just the remains of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.