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Plans for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to disarm Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already ruled out Turkey participation, and Jordan's King Abdullah has stated that his country's troops will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a potential contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a clear framework for the stabilisation mission and in this situation declines involvement, but will support all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Arab Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted resolution already distributed to delegates 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on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in Gaza after Israel have withdrawn from the region.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct local law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; without it, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an illegal Israeli occupation.

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 presence, but to enforce international law and terminate it. The force will succeed as long as it operates in the whole disputed land, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to end the occupation within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Dangers

Detailed talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started formally on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a power gap in the strip that may strengthen militant factions.

The United States is proposing that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of personnel deployed on the terrain. It has already in effect assumed command of the distribution of relief supplies into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, secure the security environment in Gaza by guaranteeing the process of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of weapons from militant factions”.

The mission, reporting to a “board of peace” chaired by the former US president, and not to the United Nations, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Regional powers including Qatar are also concerned that this mandate is too expansive, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will only do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas perspective, marks the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into giving the mission a governance function in the territory, a task that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would stay until “the local government has adequately finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal 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 exclusion of “any group found to have misused such assistance”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace barring Unrwa, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

France and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the document. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on 18 November, and Manal Radwan has stated that a mention 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 Monday to discuss the authority's function.

Not the UN nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, 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 borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it believes disarmament is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The request was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss developments on the truce and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Just the bodies of four of the original hundreds of captives are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.