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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a potential participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained 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 elimination and blocking of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, 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 aid”. The wording permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added 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 said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight role over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the right to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two parts with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.