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Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm Hamas in Gaza are encountering growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Issues

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also forbid external forces from entering contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful presence.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the presence within the context of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began formally on last week in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have many troops involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The draft American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Considerations and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the removal of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the lawful distributor of aid.

International Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter the territory if it believes disarmament is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

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

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.