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Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the UAE announced it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will succeed 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 end the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the territory including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Political Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included 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 reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

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

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of Lebanon and retain the right to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, 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 due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.