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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 UAE stated it will not join due to the absence of a clear legal structure.

Increasing Global Reservations

Israel have already ruled out Turkish involvement, and the Jordanian King Abdullah has stated that his country's forces will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a possible contributor, was absent from a preparatory meeting in Turkey and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

The UAE does not yet see a defined structure for the stability mission and under such circumstances declines involvement, but will support all political efforts towards peace – and remain at the vanguard of humanitarian aid.

Arab Doubts and Juridical Concerns

The Emirati decision, made by diplomatic representative Dr Anwar Gargash at a forum in Abu Dhabi, reflects regional doubts about the provisions of a American-proposed document already circulated to diplomats at the UN in New York. The proposal assigns responsibility on a American-led stabilisation force to be the principal means of imposing order in the territory after Israel have left the region.

Arab states would prefer expanded duties to be given to a distinct Palestinian civilian police force. Global jurisprudence would also prohibit foreign troops from deploying into contested Palestinian territories unless there was clear Palestinian consent; otherwise, the force could be seen as coercive under international statutes, and arguably reinforcing an illegal presence.

Local Viewpoints and Calls for Clarity

Jamal Nusseibeh of the ceasefire proposal commented: “It is critical that the mission be sent not to reinforce the illegal Israeli occupation, but to enforce global standards and terminate it. The force will work as long as it operates in the entire disputed land, including the West Bank, at the request of Palestine, and has a clear goal to conclude the occupation within the framework of a sovereign state of Palestine.”

The draft contains no mention to the West Bank in the American proposal, or to a sovereign Palestine, or a peaceful resolution, a prospect that Israel rejects.

Continuing Negotiations and Possible Risks

In-depth talks on the stabilisation force authority, including its command and control, began officially on Thursday in the UN headquarters, and appear to be protracted – risking the development of a vacuum in Gaza that may empower Hamas.

The United States is suggesting that it lead the force although it will not have many troops deployed on the terrain. It has previously in effect taken control of the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza from a recently established civil military coordination centre based in Israel.

Mission Mandate and Administrative Role

The proposed US resolution outlines the purpose of the security mission as “along with the recently prepared and vetted law enforcement to help secure frontier zones, secure the safety situation in the region by guaranteeing the procedure of demilitarising the Gaza Strip including the destruction and prevention of reconstructing the military terror and offensive infrastructure as well as the lasting decommissioning of arms from militant factions”.

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

Regional powers including Qatar are also worried that this authority is too expansive, and if the group is to disarm, the group will solely do so to fellow Palestinians, likely in the local law enforcement, at a time that, from the Hamas viewpoint, marks the conclusion of Israeli presence.

They also worry the draft mandate spills into granting the mission a governance function in Gaza, a responsibility that was to be reserved for a local technocratic committee working in conjunction with a reformed local government.

Aid Aspects and Financial Questions

This “transitional governance administration” in Gaza would stay until “the Palestinian Authority has adequately completed its reform program, the approval of which shall be approved to the BoP”, the proposal says. It also “emphasizes the significance” of full relief in Gaza, including through the UN, the ICRC, and the Red Crescent.

However, it allows for the exclusion of “any group determined to have improperly used such assistance”. The wording leaves open the board of peace excluding Unrwa, the organization that the global judicial body has said is the legal provider of aid.

International Political Efforts

French officials and Saudi Arabia are currently advocating for a reference to a Palestinian state to be included in the resolution. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is due in the White House on the specified date, and Manal Radwan has stated that a reference to a independent Palestine is a requirement.

The PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas, met the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, in the French capital on this week to review the authority's function.

Neither the UN nor the 15 strong security council are given a supervisory role over the mission, supervising the implementation of the proposal, a aspect mostly ignored by the draft text. Nothing is specified about the financing of this stabilisation mission, which, as per the US officials, should be largely covered by Gulf states, with the Kingdom assuming primary responsibility.

Israeli Requests and Local Situations

Israel is requesting formal assurances from the United States that it be allowed to emulate the model of Lebanon and reserve the right to re-enter Gaza if it considers demilitarization is not taking place at a scale or speed it requires.

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

Only the bodies of a small number of the initial 251 captives are still unreturned.

Independently, Israeli officials has been proposing that the territory could still be split in two parts with rebuilding efforts beginning in the Israel occupied areas of the region. Western diplomats maintain that this is no part of the former US administration's proposal.