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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing growing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission authority, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, 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 fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

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 UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point largely ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it requires.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive later the same day.

Only the remains of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.