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Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to demilitarize the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE stated it would not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian forces will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously mooted as a potential participant, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all political efforts towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the terms of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to delegates at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the territory.

Regional governments would prefer greater duties to be given to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is critical that the force be deployed not to reinforce the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the mission authority, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft American document defines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the procedure of demilitarising the territory including the elimination and prevention of rebuilding the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from militant factions”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to giving the mission a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would stay until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full humanitarian aid in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such aid”. The wording leaves open the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal distributor of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the PA role.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member security council are given a supervisory function over the mission, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of Lebanon and reserve the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.