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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing growing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a distinct local civilian police force. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful 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 West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to end the occupation within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it command the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed US resolution outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, 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 Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point largely overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Developments

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

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

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