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Plans for an multinational security mission authorized by the United Nations to disarm the militant group in Gaza are facing increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkish participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was established.

The UAE does not yet see a clear structure for the stability mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would prefer expanded responsibilities to be given to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the force be sent not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The force will work as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the occupation within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Potential Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its leadership structure, started formally on Thursday in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development 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 a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect assumed command of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Mandate and Administrative Function

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the territory including the elimination and prevention of reconstructing the militant and hostile facilities as well as the permanent removal of weapons from non-state armed groups”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” led by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the militant perspective, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority extends to granting the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed Palestinian Authority.

Aid Aspects and Funding Issues

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have improperly used such assistance”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Political Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to review the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight role over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a point mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to re-enter the territory if it considers disarmament is not taking place at a scale or pace it requires.

The Israeli proposal was put to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the truce and Witkoff was due to appear later the that day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the Gaza Strip could yet be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israel occupied parts of the region. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.