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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have already excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stability force and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution already circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer greater duties to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

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

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a governance role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital 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 execution of the proposal, a point largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter the territory if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.