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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the lack of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a US-drafted document previously distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would like expanded responsibilities to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

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 Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and end it. The force will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip 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 mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

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

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan 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 this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are assigned a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, 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 that day.

Just the remains of four of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.