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Plans for an multinational stabilisation force authorized by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing opposition after the UAE announced it will not join due to the lack of a clear legal framework.

Increasing International Reservations

Israel have previously excluded Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects regional doubts about the terms of a American-proposed document already distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also prohibit external forces from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, started officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The US is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to assist in protecting frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the process of disarming the territory including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any group determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal provider of aid.

Global Political Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. 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 independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

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

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a oversight function over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely covered by regional nations, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it requires.

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

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

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.