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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document already circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent 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 occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, 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 Hamas perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the proposed document. No details is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the that day.

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

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