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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE announced it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations about the terms of a American-proposed document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

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 unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming 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 non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, 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 international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive later the same day.

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

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.