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Proposals for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates announced it would not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution already 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 Israel have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid external forces from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Definition

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to uphold global standards and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to conclude the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

Detailed talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has already effectively assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative function in the territory, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza 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 draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of aid.

Global Political Efforts

France and Saudi Arabia are already advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member security council are assigned a supervisory role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Demands and Regional Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the remains of a small number of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.