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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing growing opposition after the UAE stated it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

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

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.