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Proposals for an multinational security mission mandated by the UN to disarm the militant group in the Gaza Strip are facing increasing opposition after the UAE stated it would not take part due to the absence of a clear legal framework.

Growing Global Concerns

Israeli authorities have previously ruled out Turkish participation, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that Jordanian troops will not participate. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and indicated it would not take part unless a full ceasefire was in place.

Emirati officials does not yet see a clear structure for the stabilisation force and under such circumstances will not participate, but backs all diplomatic efforts towards peace – and stay at the forefront of relief efforts.

Regional Skepticism and Juridical Concerns

The UAE's announcement, delivered by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a conference in the UAE capital, highlights Arab reservations about the provisions of a American-proposed document already circulated to delegates at the UN in NYC. The draft assigns responsibility on a US-directed security mission to be the primary means of imposing security in the territory after Israel have withdrawn from the region.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 contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear local approval; otherwise, the force could be viewed as coercive under international statutes, and potentially reinforcing an unlawful Israeli occupation.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal said: “It is essential that the force be sent not to stabilise the unlawful Israeli occupation, but to uphold international law and terminate it. The mission will work as long as it operates in the whole occupied territory, including the West Bank, at the invitation of Palestine, and has a clear objective to end the occupation within the framework of a independent Palestinian state.”

The draft contains no mention to the occupied territories in the US draft resolution, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a two-state solution, a outcome that Israel opposes.

Ongoing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth negotiations on the mission mandate, including its command and control, started officially on last week in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the emergence of a power gap in the strip that may empower militant factions.

The US is proposing that it lead the mission although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has already effectively taken control of the delivery of relief supplies into the territory from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Force Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed American document defines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the newly trained and screened law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, stabilise the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the procedure 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 arms from non-state armed groups”.

The force, answerable to a “board of peace” chaired by Donald Trump, and not to the UN, would be mandated to use “any required actions” to achieve its goals.

Arab states including Qatar are also worried that this mandate is overly broad, and if Hamas is to disarm, the faction will only do so to local counterparts, probably in the local law enforcement, at a moment that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the end of Israeli presence.

They also worry the proposed authority spills into giving the stabilisation force a administrative role in Gaza, a task that was to be set aside for a local technocratic committee working in cooperation with a reformed local government.

Humanitarian Aspects and Funding Issues

This “transitional governance administration” in the strip would remain until “the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily finished its reform program, the approval of which shall be acceptable to the board of peace”, the proposal states. It also “underscores the importance” of unhindered humanitarian aid in the territory, including through the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent.

Nonetheless, it opens the door the removal of “any organisation determined to have improperly used such aid”. The phrase leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has ruled is the lawful provider of assistance.

International Diplomatic Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are already pressing for a reference to a Palestinian state to be added in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the US presidential residence on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has said that a mention to a independent Palestine is a prerequisite.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday to discuss the PA role.

Neither the United Nations nor the 15-member UNSC are assigned a oversight role over the stabilisation force, supervising the implementation of the resolution, a point mostly ignored by the proposed document. No details is outlined about the funding of this security operation, which, as per the US officials, should be largely borne by regional nations, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Developments

Israeli authorities is requesting written guarantees from the United States that it be allowed to follow the model of Lebanon and retain the right to re-enter the territory if it considers demilitarization is not occurring at a scale or speed it requires.

The request was presented to the former US advisor, the ex-president's relative, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The advisor was in the Israeli capital on this week to discuss progress on the ceasefire and Witkoff was scheduled to arrive later the same day.

Just the remains of four of the initial 251 Israeli hostages are still not recovered.

Separately, Israeli officials has been proposing that the Gaza Strip could still be split in two with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied parts of the strip. Western diplomats insist that this is not part of the former US administration's proposal.