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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Increasing International Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the territory.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and arguably stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Questions

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

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the board of peace barring Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of aid.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the right to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, 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 due to appear subsequently the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.