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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing International Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stability mission and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

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

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of aid.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to review progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear later the same day.

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

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.