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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a complete truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document already distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal 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 succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

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

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas 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 viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance role in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included 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 reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial 251 captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.