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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stability mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

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 opposes.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the ground. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed US resolution outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” led 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 concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, 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 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter the territory 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 son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 captives remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.