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Proposals for an international stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to disarm Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing resistance after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all political efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the primary means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan said: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a defined objective to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Role

The proposed American document defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a governance role in the territory, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

Nonetheless, it allows for the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and retain the authority to re-enter Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The request was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial 251 captives remain unreturned.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.