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Plans for an international security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, previously mooted as a possible participant, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, highlights regional reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring order in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would like greater duties to be given to a distinct local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be seen as coercive under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the presence within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israel rejects.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, started officially on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The United States is suggesting that it command the mission although it will not have many troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The draft US resolution outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the elimination and blocking of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, signifies the end of occupation.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to giving the stabilisation force a governance role in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian expert panel working in conjunction with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “interim authority” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation determined to have misused such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the legal distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Neither the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the proposal, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. No details is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the US officials, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking formal assurances from the US that it be allowed to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority to return to Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was scheduled to arrive later the that day.

Just the remains of four of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. International officials insist that this is not part of the Trump plan.