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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE stated it would not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater duties to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a governance role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to review the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear later the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.