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Plans for an international 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 structure.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation force and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and remain at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Regional Doubts and Legal Concerns

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given 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 arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

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

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, started officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many personnel involved on the terrain. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Governance Role

The draft US resolution defines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

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

They also worry the proposed authority spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the draft states. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion 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 aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the draft text. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.