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Plans for an international security mission mandated by the United Nations to demilitarize Hamas in the Gaza Strip are encountering increasing opposition after the UAE stated it will not join due to the lack of a well-defined legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously excluded Turkey involvement, and Jordan's King Abdullah has declared that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, previously considered as a possible contributor, was absent from a planning session in Turkey and indicated it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was established.

The UAE does not yet see a defined framework for the stabilisation mission and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic initiatives towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Regional Skepticism and Legal Concerns

The Emirati announcement, made by diplomatic representative 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 assigns responsibility on a US-directed stabilisation force to be the primary means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would prefer greater responsibilities to be assigned to a separate Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also forbid foreign troops from entering occupied Palestine unless there was explicit Palestinian consent; otherwise, the mission could be viewed as imposed under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

A Palestinian American co-author of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the mission be deployed not to stabilise the unlawful presence, but to uphold international law and end it. The mission will work as long as it enters the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear goal to end the presence within the context of a independent Palestinian state.”

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

Continuing Discussions and Possible Dangers

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its leadership structure, started officially on last week in New York, and look likely to be protracted – potentially creating the development of a vacuum in the strip that may empower militant factions.

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

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The draft American document outlines the aim of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and vetted police force to assist in protecting border areas, secure the safety situation in the region by ensuring the procedure of disarming the Gaza Strip including the destruction and blocking of rebuilding the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “peace council” led by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “all necessary measures” to achieve its goals.

Regional powers including Qatari officials are also concerned that this authority is overly broad, and if Hamas is to lay down arms, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, likely in the civilian police force, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, signifies the end of Israeli presence.

They also fear the proposed authority spills into granting the mission a administrative function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a Palestinian expert panel working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Aid Considerations and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would remain until “the local government has satisfactorily completed its restructuring plan, the satisfaction of which shall be acceptable to the BoP”, the draft says. It also “underscores the significance” of unhindered relief in Gaza, including through the United Nations, the ICRC, and the humanitarian organizations.

However, it opens the door the removal of “any group determined to have misused such aid”. The wording permits the council excluding the UN relief agency, the body that the international court of justice has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

Global Diplomatic Efforts

France and Saudi representatives are already pressing for a mention to a sovereign Palestine to be included in the resolution. 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 Palestinian state is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, held talks with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15 strong security council are given a oversight function over the stabilisation force, supervising the execution of the resolution, a aspect mostly overlooked by the proposed document. Nothing is specified about the funding of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the Americans, should be mostly covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom taking the lead.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israel is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to return to the territory if it believes demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or pace it requires.

The request was presented to Jared Kushner, the ex-president's relative, and the American diplomat, Steve Witkoff. Kushner was in the Israeli capital on Monday to discuss progress on the truce and Witkoff was due to arrive subsequently the same day.

Only the remains of a small number of the initial hundreds of Israeli hostages remain unreturned.

Separately, Israeli officials has been suggesting that the territory could yet be split in two with rebuilding efforts starting in the Israel occupied areas of the strip. International officials maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.