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Plans for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are facing increasing opposition after the UAE stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of ensuring security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the region.

Regional governments would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate local civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful presence, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have many personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed US resolution outlines the purpose of the security mission 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 process of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

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

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the lawful provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, 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 prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the implementation of the resolution, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or speed it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to review progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to appear later the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.