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Plans for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document 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 imposing security in the territory after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the presence within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have many personnel deployed on the ground. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

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

They also fear the proposed authority extends to granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the proposed document. No details is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israel is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.