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Plans for an international security mission authorized by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are encountering growing resistance after the UAE announced it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Increasing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have already excluded Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a potential participant, did not attend a planning session in Istanbul and said it would not contribute unless a full truce was established.

Emirati officials does not yet see a defined structure for the stability mission and in this situation declines involvement, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards resolution – and stay at the forefront of humanitarian aid.

Arab Skepticism and Juridical Issues

The UAE's announcement, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, highlights Arab reservations about the terms of a US-drafted resolution previously circulated to diplomats at the UN in NYC. The proposal places an onus on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing security in Gaza after Israeli forces have left the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be assigned to a separate Palestinian law enforcement agency. International law would also prohibit foreign troops from entering contested Palestinian territories unless there was explicit local approval; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially stabilising an illegal Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is essential that the force be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to enforce global standards and end it. The force will succeed as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a defined objective to end the occupation within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no reference to the West Bank in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a outcome that Israeli leadership rejects.

Ongoing Discussions and Potential Dangers

In-depth negotiations on the stabilisation force mandate, including its command and control, began formally on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and look likely to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in the strip that may strengthen Hamas.

The US is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have a large number of troops involved on the terrain. It has already in effect taken control of the distribution of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in the neighboring country.

Mission Mandate and Governance Function

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and screened law enforcement to assist in protecting frontier zones, stabilise the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of disarming the territory including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the militant and offensive infrastructure as well as the permanent removal of weapons from militant factions”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by the former US president, and not to the UN, would be required to use “any required actions” to fulfill its objectives.

Arab states including Qatari officials are also worried that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the group will solely do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the militant viewpoint, marks the end of occupation.

They also worry the draft mandate extends to giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a Palestinian technocratic committee working in cooperation with a restructured local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “interim authority” in Gaza would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the importance” of full relief in the territory, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any group found to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording permits the board of peace excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the global judicial body has said is the legal provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Initiatives

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference 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 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 leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on this week to discuss the authority's function.

Not the United Nations nor the 15 strong UNSC are assigned a oversight function over the mission, monitoring the implementation of the proposal, a aspect largely ignored by the draft text. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, according to the Americans, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Demands and Regional Developments

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the US that it be permitted to follow the pattern of the Lebanese situation and retain the authority to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a level or speed it requires.

The Israeli proposal was presented to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss developments on the ceasefire and Witkoff was due to arrive later the same day.

Just the remains of four of the original hundreds of Israeli hostages remain not recovered.

Separately, Israel has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could yet be split in two parts with reconstruction work beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the region. International officials maintain that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.