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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the UAE stated it would not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a planning session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stability mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be given to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed US resolution outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of weapons from militant factions”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful distributor of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The request was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Only the remains of four of the initial 251 captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is no part of the Trump plan.