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Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Istanbul and indicated it would not contribute unless a full truce was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all political initiatives towards resolution – and remain at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in the UAE capital, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a US-drafted document already distributed to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The draft places an onus on a American-led security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would like expanded responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; without it, the mission could be viewed as coercive under UN law, and potentially reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be lengthy – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower Hamas.

The United States is proposing that it command the mission although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has previously effectively taken control of the distribution of relief supplies into Gaza from a recently established logistical hub based in Israel.

Mission Objectives and Administrative Function

The proposed American document defines the aim of the security mission as “together with the recently prepared and vetted police force to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to achieve its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the draft mandate extends to granting the mission a governance role in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local expert panel working in conjunction with a restructured Palestinian Authority.

Humanitarian Considerations and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately finished its reform program, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft states. It also “emphasizes the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The phrase permits the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the lawful distributor of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a mention to a Palestinian state to be added in the document. 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 mention to a Palestinian state is a requirement.

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

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is specified about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be mostly borne by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Local Situations

Israel is seeking formal assurances from the United States that it be permitted to emulate the model of the Lebanese situation and reserve the right to return to Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's son-in-law, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to review progress on the truce and the envoy was scheduled to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the bodies of four of the initial hundreds of captives remain not recovered.

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israeli-controlled parts of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is not part of the Trump plan.