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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and end it. The force will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already 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 White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Developments

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.