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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a complete truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” 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 states. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

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

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.