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Proposals for an multinational security mission authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in Gaza are encountering increasing resistance after the United Arab Emirates stated it would not take part due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not participate. The Azerbaijani government, once considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a complete truce was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force and in this situation will not participate, but backs all political initiatives towards peace – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, made by senior envoy Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights regional doubts about the provisions of a US-drafted 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stabilisation force to be the principal means of ensuring security in the territory after Israeli forces have withdrawn from the territory.

Arab states would like greater responsibilities to be assigned to a distinct Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under UN law, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Local Perspectives and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The force will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the occupied territories, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

There is no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a Palestinian state, or a two-state solution, a prospect that Israeli leadership opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started formally on Thursday in New York, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in Gaza that may empower militant factions.

The US is suggesting that it command the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the ground. It has previously in effect assumed command of the distribution of humanitarian aid into the territory from a new logistical hub based in the neighboring country.

Mission Objectives and Governance Function

The draft American document outlines the purpose of the stabilisation force as “together with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure border areas, stabilise the safety situation in Gaza by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the elimination and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting removal of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The mission, answerable to a “peace council” chaired by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “all necessary measures” to fulfill its objectives.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a time that, from the militant perspective, signifies the conclusion of occupation.

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

Aid Aspects and Financial Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the approval of which shall be approved to the board of peace”, the proposal says. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have misused such aid”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of aid.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi representatives are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, is scheduled in the White House on the specified date, and a Saudi foreign ministry official has said that a reference to a Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to review the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a supervisory function over the stabilisation force, monitoring the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the draft text. Nothing is outlined about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be mostly covered by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israel's Requests and Local Situations

Israeli authorities is seeking written guarantees from the US that it be permitted to emulate the model of Lebanon and retain the authority to return to the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or pace it demands.

The Israeli proposal was put to the former US advisor, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in Jerusalem on this week to review developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to appear later the same day.

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

Independently, Israel has been suggesting that the territory could still be divided in two with reconstruction work starting in the Israeli-controlled areas of the strip. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the Trump plan.