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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized 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 clear legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stability force and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit external forces from entering occupied Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed US resolution defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “interim authority” 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 “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference 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 PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive later the that day.

Just the remains of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.