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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are facing growing resistance after the UAE announced it will not join due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkey participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, reflects regional reservations 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American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring order in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent state of Palestine.”

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

Continuing Discussions and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel involved on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the process of disarming the territory including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

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

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The phrase leaves open the council excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

International Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled 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, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the that day.

Just the remains of a small number of the initial 251 captives are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.