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Proposals for an international stabilisation force mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing growing opposition after the UAE announced it would not take part due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Growing International Reservations

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a potential contributor, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a complete truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a US-drafted document already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would like expanded duties to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Appeals for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the force be sent not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the entire 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 Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on Thursday in New York, and appear to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Governance Function

The proposed American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting border areas, stabilise the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if the group is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “emphasizes the significance” 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 assistance”. The wording permits the board of peace barring the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect largely overlooked by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it believes demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review developments on the truce and the envoy was due to appear subsequently the same day.

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

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.