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Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE stated it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible participant, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but will support all diplomatic initiatives towards resolution – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and arguably reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

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

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 Discussions and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its leadership structure, began officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to granting the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would stay until “the local government has adequately completed its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently pressing for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight function over the mission, supervising the execution of the proposal, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on this week to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages are still unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israeli-controlled parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.