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Plans for an international security mission authorized by the UN to demilitarize Hamas in Gaza are facing increasing opposition after the United Arab Emirates stated it will not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal structure.

Growing Global Concerns

Israel have already excluded Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that Jordanian troops will not join. The Azerbaijani government, previously considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory session in Turkey and said it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was established.

Emirati officials lacks clarity on a defined structure for the stabilisation mission and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of relief efforts.

Regional Doubts and Juridical Issues

The UAE's decision, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in Abu Dhabi, reflects Arab reservations about the terms of a American-proposed resolution previously circulated to delegates at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Regional governments would prefer expanded responsibilities to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. International law would also forbid foreign troops from deploying into occupied Palestine unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the force could be seen as imposed under international statutes, and arguably stabilising an illegal presence.

Palestinian Perspectives and Appeals for Definition

Jamal Nusseibeh of the Palestinian armistice plan commented: “It is critical that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold global standards and terminate it. The mission will succeed as long as it enters the entire occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of the Palestinian authorities, and has a clear objective to conclude the presence within the context of a independent state of Palestine.”

There is no reference to the occupied territories in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Discussions and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, started officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops deployed on the ground. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Force Objectives and Administrative Role

The draft American document defines the aim of the security mission as “together with the newly trained and screened police force to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and hostile facilities as well as the permanent decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the United Nations, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the Hamas perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

They also fear the draft mandate spills into granting the stabilisation force a administrative function in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Aspects and Funding Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay 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 importance” of full humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group determined to have misused such assistance”. The wording permits the council barring the UN relief agency, the organization that the international court of justice has said is the legal provider of assistance.

Global Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi representatives are already advocating for a reference to a sovereign Palestine to be included 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 PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Not the UN nor the 15 strong UNSC are given a supervisory function over the mission, supervising the execution of the resolution, a point largely ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Regional Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to Gaza if it considers disarmament is not occurring at a scale or speed it demands.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss developments on the ceasefire and the envoy was due to arrive subsequently the that day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial 251 captives remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.