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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing opposition after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible contributor, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was in place.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined framework for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer greater duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; without it, the mission could be seen as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel involved on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The draft American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the process of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably 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 governance role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

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

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to review the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a oversight role over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the truce and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the original hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.