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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing opposition after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, 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 independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Not the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely overlooked by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it demands.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.