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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would like greater responsibilities to be given to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to end the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House 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 the French capital on Monday to review the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of captives remain unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.