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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

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

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

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

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. 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 independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, 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 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter the territory if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or pace it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive later the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.