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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once considered as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, 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 proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Function

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. 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 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 this week to review the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.