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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

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

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like greater duties to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

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

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in New York, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

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

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. 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, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of four of the original 251 captives are still unreturned.

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