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Proposals 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 will not take part due to the absence of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israel have previously ruled out Turkish involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible participant, was absent from a preparatory session in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

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

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed resolution previously distributed to delegates at the UN in New York. The draft places an onus on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the territory.

Regional governments would prefer expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a separate local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; without it, the force could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the illegal presence, but to enforce international law and end it. The mission will succeed as long as it operates in the entire occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the request of the Palestinian authorities, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

Detailed negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, began formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be lengthy – potentially creating the emergence of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many personnel involved on the ground. It has previously effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into Gaza from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The draft US resolution defines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and screened police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in the region by ensuring the process of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

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

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the exclusion of “any organisation found to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the council barring Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Initiatives

France 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 due in the US presidential residence on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a supervisory role over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect largely overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israel's Demands and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and reserve the authority 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 relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to appear later the same day.

Just the bodies of four of the original 251 Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

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