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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have left the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The proposed American document defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, 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 perspective, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a governance role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Issues

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

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to review progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.