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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE stated it would not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have already excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

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

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution outlines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

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

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

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

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the council barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. 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 mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, 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-member UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it demands.

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 the Israeli capital on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

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

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials insist that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.